It's time to take some lively trots in Lake Toxaway, North Carolina! The history of Lake Toxaway, North Carolina, brings bark-citement to Luie Boone. Why? Because most of the history concerns the lake itself! Back in 1890, E.H. Jennings established the Toxaway Company after visiting the area and dubbing it the Switzerland of America. That got Luie Boone's hooman sister, Rachel, very intrigued. She would love to go to Switzerland one day!

When Luie Boone overheard his hoomans talking about Watauga Lake, his ears perked up like little satellite dishes. Lakes are his jam—swimming, cannonballs, pontoon naps, and watching his hoomans fish? Paw-fection. But Watauga Lake isn't just any splash zone. Beneath its shimmering surface lies a secret: the ghost of a town that refused to drown. Long ago, nestled in the valley of the Watauga River, there was a town called Butler, Tennessee.