The Local Tourist
Mary Beard Grodsky
Straight across from our lake place in Yellow Creek lies the old NASA facility. If you’re a local, you know exactly where this is. For anyone that visits the lake or for those not local, I’m constantly asked what that giant building is. Its proximity to Goat Island draws a summer crowd around that section of the lake, and ironically, hardly anyone believes me when I tell them that NASA came the little ole town of Iuka. Even reading through the national publications while researching this article, seeing the words “failure” and “abandoned town” brought back a whole
wave of emotions.
In 1989, Lockheed Missiles and Space Co. was selected by NASA to build advanced solid rocket motors at the abandoned TVA Yellow Creek nuclear power plant. I remember all the chatter about how the town was going to change. Would it still have the small town feel? Was there really going to be a $50 million annual impact to the area? And at 9 years old, I learned being a rocket scientist was actually a real thing. And suddenly, a 2nd redlight went up in town and everything began to change.
The whole town came out to the big announcement at the local high school, which is now the Iuka Middle School. I remember all the executives and politicians being there and our family frantically dressing in our Sunday best to go to the news event. I somehow got a seat up close on the gym floor. I was handed a small American flag and was told to wave it as the TV camera came close. I suppose this was the epitome of American pride at the time and I was there to express it, permed hair and all.
New students began registering at the school, coming in from all across the country. Students with hair unevenly cut (on purpose). I remember a girl moving here from California. She seemed cool and different, and also amazingly smart at science. No surprise as she was the kid of one of the first rocket scientists to transfer in. My mom was constantly reminding me to welcome the new children, as these people were important to the school and our community. Honestly, I think she hoped I’d be inspired to try harder at science.
And it was happening! We were getting funds for improved highways and a new high school. Jobs were expanding and people were relocating. Talk at the dinner table every night was who had applied and been hired locally that we knew. Engineers, security workers, and manufacturing positions were all expanding. And then, like the California transplant’s grades, things began slipping. Every day she began sinking lower and lower in her chair until one day she told me she begged her dad to move back from this weird place. Slightly offended, I did feel a little bad for her. Trying to make new friends in the most awkward middle school phase of life
is tough.
And then, it was gone. The decision to stop the work on the power plant happened haphazardly with the completion of the $2 billion canal. Almost overnight, the newly created jobs vanished from the northeast corner of Mississippi. The 2nd redlight disappeared. As quickly as it was here, it magically picked up and went away.
There’s a phrase we termed locally for the people who stayed around called the “NASA Leftovers.” They were people who embraced the slower pace of life and decided they didn’t want to move back when the company uprooted. But, the most striking leftover is that large building that still looms over the lake, which provides a great story and a reminder about the time our little Iuka became a big star in the NASA universe. Click here to learn more about me and how I can help you with your real estate needs. Whether Memphis or Pickwick, primary home or investment, I’m happy to offer my services. Contact me at 901-468-7030 or Marygrodskyrealtor@gmail.com
Mary Grodsky, Crye-Leike Realtors
E: Marygrodskyrealtor@gmail.com
C: 901-468-7030
O: 901-756-8900
