Hiwassee | |
|---|---|
Village | |
| Coordinates: 35°08′56″N84°10′17″W / 35.14889°N 84.17139°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | North Carolina |
| County | Cherokee County, North Carolina |
Hiwassee is a small village in Cherokee County, North Carolina, United States, [1] which sits next to the Hiwassee Dam and the artificially created Hiwassee Reservoir, on Hiwassee River.
The Dam itself was constructed between 1936 and 1940 by the Tennessee Valley Authority as part of Roosevelt's New Deal policy. Hiwassee Dam is still maintained by the TVA. It has a height of 307 feet, spans a distance of 1,376 feet across the Hiwassee River and produce 185,000 kilowatts of electricity.
Hiwassee Dam was the world's tallest "overflow" dam until the completion of the Aswan High Dam on the Nile River in Egypt in the early 1970s. The depth from the top of the spillgates to the bedrock at the face of the dam is 285 feet.
The reservoir serves recreational, power generation and flood control purposes. It is surrounded by the Nantahala and Cherokee National Forests and is almost adjacent to the Appalachia Reservoir. Both reservoirs are important for local wildlife such as deer. The reservoir is relatively shallow with an average depth of 142 ft (44 m) and can exceed depths of 200 ft in places. [2]
Polk County is a county located in the southeastern corner of the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, its population was 17,544. Its county seat is Benton. The county was created on November 28, 1839, from parts of Bradley and McMinn counties, after final removal of most Cherokee from the region that year. The county was named after then-governor James K. Polk. Polk County is included in the Cleveland, Tennessee Metropolitan Area Statistical Area, which is also included in the Chattanooga–Cleveland–Dalton, TN–GA–AL Combined Statistical Area.
The Watauga River is a large stream of western North Carolina and East Tennessee. It is 78.5 miles (126.3 km) long with its headwaters in Linville Gap to the South Fork Holston River at Boone Lake.
The Hiwassee River originates from a spring on the north slope of Rocky Mountain in Towns County in the northern area of the State of Georgia. It flows northward into North Carolina before turning westward into Tennessee, flowing into the Tennessee River a few miles west of what is now State Route 58 in Meigs County, Tennessee. The river is about 147 miles (237 km) long.
Fort Loudoun Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the Tennessee River in Loudon County, Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. The dam is operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), which built the dam in the early 1940s as part of a unified plan to provide electricity and flood control in the Tennessee Valley and create a continuous 652-mile (1,049 km) navigable river channel from Knoxville, Tennessee to Paducah, Kentucky. It is the uppermost of nine TVA dams on the Tennessee River.
Chickamauga Lake is a reservoir in the United States along the Tennessee River created when the Chickamauga Dam, as part of the Tennessee Valley Authority, was completed in 1940. The lake stretches from Watts Bar Dam at mile 529.9 (853 km) to Chickamauga Dam at mile 471.0 (758 km) making the lake 58.9 miles (94.8 km) long. It borders Rhea County, Meigs County, and Hamilton County with 810 miles (1,303 km) of shoreline and two bridges crossing it at State Highway 60 and Highway 30. The lake is commonly used for recreational and outdoor activities, especially at the southern end, due to the high population density surrounding it. It was named after the Chickamauga Cherokee who used to live in the area.
The Chickamauga Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the Tennessee River in Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States. The dam is owned and operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority, which built the dam in the late 1930s as part of a New Deal era initiative to improve navigation and bring flood control and economic development to the Tennessee Valley. The dam impounds the 36,240-acre (14,670 ha) Chickamauga Lake and feeds into Nickajack Lake. The dam and associated infrastructure were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2017.
Watauga Lake, located east of Elizabethton, Tennessee, is the local name of the Watauga Reservoir created by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) with the 1948 completion of the TVA Watauga Dam.
Apalachia Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the Hiwassee River in Cherokee County, in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The dam is the lowermost of three dams on the river owned and operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority, which built the dam in the early 1940s to provide emergency power for aluminum production during World War II. While the dam is in North Carolina, an 8.3-mile (13.4 km) underground conduit carries water from the dam's reservoir to the powerhouse located 12 miles (19 km) downstream across the state line in Polk County, Tennessee. The dam and associated infrastructure were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2017.
The name Hiwassee is derived from the Cherokee word Ayuhwasi, meaning "savanna" or "large meadow". The name has been applied to several entities past and present in the U.S. states of Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee:
Watauga Dam is a hydroelectric and flood control dam on the Watauga River in Carter County, in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is owned and operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority, which built the dam in the 1940s as part of efforts to control flooding in the Tennessee River watershed. At 318 feet (97 m), Watauga is the second-highest dam in the TVA river and reservoir system, and at the time of its completion was one of the highest earth-and-rock dams in the United States. The dam impounds the TVA Watauga Reservoir of 6,430 acres (2,600 ha), and its tailwaters feed into Wilbur Lake.
Cherokee Dam is a hydroelectric dam located on the Holston River in Grainger County and Jefferson County, Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. The dam is operated and maintained by the Tennessee Valley Authority, which built the dam in the early 1940s to help meet urgent demands for energy at the outbreak of World War II. Cherokee Dam is 175 feet (53 m) high and impounds the 28,780-acre (11,650 ha) Cherokee Lake. It has a generating capacity of 136 megawatts. The dam was named for the Cherokee, a Native American tribe that controlled much of East Tennessee when the first European settlers arrived in the mid-18th century.
Ocoee Dam No. 3 is a hydroelectric dam on the Ocoee River in Polk County, in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is one of four dams on the Toccoa/Ocoee River owned and operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority, which built the dam in the early 1940s to meet emergency demands for electricity during World War II. The dam impounds the 360-acre (150 ha) Ocoee No. 3 Reservoir, which stretches 11 miles (18 km) upriver to the Tennessee-Georgia state line. Ocoee No. 3's powerhouse is actually located several miles downstream from the dam, and is fed by a 2.5-mile (4.0 km) conduit that carries water to it from the reservoir.
Hiwassee Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the Hiwassee River in Cherokee County, in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is one of three dams on the river owned and operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority, which built the dam in the late 1930s to bring flood control and electricity to the region. The dam impounds the Hiwassee Lake of 6,000 acres (2,400 ha), and its tailwaters are part of Apalachia Lake. At 307 feet (94 m), Hiwassee Dam is the highest overspill dam in the Eastern United States and third only to Shasta and Grand Coulee dams in the nation. At the time it was completed, it was the highest overspill dam in the world.
Nottely Dam is a hydroelectric and flood storage dam on the Nottely River in Union County, in the U.S. state of Georgia. The dam is owned and operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority, which built the dam in the early 1940s as a flood control structure and to help regulate flow at nearby Hiwassee Dam. The dam impounds the Lake Nottely of 4,180 acres (16.9 km2). While the dam was built primarily for flood storage, a generator was installed at Nottely in the 1950s, giving it a small hydroelectric output.
Chatuge Dam is a flood control and hydroelectric dam on the Hiwassee River in Clay County, in the U.S. state of North Carolina. The dam is the uppermost of three dams on the river owned and operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority, which built the dam in the early 1940s for flood storage and to provide flow regulation at Hiwassee Dam further downstream. The dam impounds the 7,000-acre (2,800 ha) Chatuge Lake, which straddles the North Carolina-Georgia state line. While originally built solely for flood storage, a generator installed at Chatuge in the 1950s gives the dam a small hydroelectric output. The dam and associated infrastructure was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2017.
Bussell Island, formerly Lenoir Island, is an island located at the mouth of the Little Tennessee River, at its confluence with the Tennessee River in Loudon County, near the U.S. city of Lenoir City, Tennessee. The island was inhabited by various Native American cultures for thousands of years before the arrival of early European explorers. The Tellico Dam and a recreational area occupy part of the island. Part of the island was added in 1978 to the National Register of Historic Places for its archaeological potential.
Lake Chatuge is a man-made reservoir in Towns County, Georgia, and Clay County, North Carolina. It lies along the Hiwassee River created by the Chatuge Dam which finished construction in 1942. The lake is relatively shallow with depths of 30 feet (9.1 m) and reaches 144 feet (44 m) by the dam. Lake Chatuge is the highest major lake in the state of Georgia.
Hiwassee Island, also known as Jollys Island and Benham Island, is located in Meigs County, Tennessee, at the confluence of the Tennessee and Hiwassee Rivers. It is about 35 mi (56 km) northeast of Chattanooga. The island was the second largest land mass on the Tennessee River at 781 acres before the Tennessee Valley Authority created the Chickamauga Lake as a part of the dam system on the Tennessee River in 1940. Much of the island is now submerged, leaving 400 acres above the waterline.
Municipalities and communities of Cherokee County, North Carolina, United States | ||
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| Other communities | ||
| Indian reservation | ||
| Footnotes | ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties | |
