| Lake Lure | |
|---|---|
 | |
  Lake Lure  Lake Lure | |
| Location | Rutherford County, North Carolina |
| Coordinates | 35°25′55″N82°11′50″W / 35.43194°N 82.19722°W |
| Lake type | reservoir |
| Primary inflows | Broad River |
| Primary outflows | Broad River |
| Basin countries | United States |
| Surface area | 717 acres (2.9 km2) |
| Surface elevation | 990 ft (300 m) |
| Settlements | Lake Lure, North Carolina |
Lake Lure is a reservoir, located near the eponymous town of Lake Lure, North Carolina. [1] [2]
In 1925, the Morse family created Carolina Mountain Power Company. [3] This company funded dam construction on the Broad River which produced the lake after which the town is named. [3] The dam took two years to build and Lake Lure was finally impounded and filled by 1927. [4] At ordinary water levels, Lake Lure covers approximately 720 acres (2.9 km2) and has a shoreline of approximately 27 miles (43 km). [4] In 1928, the hydroelectric plant began generating electricity for the Blue Ridge Power Company, one of the companies taken over by Duke Power. [4]
Lake Lure, including the dam, was used for filming multiple scenes in the 1987 film Dirty Dancing . [5]
During Hurricane Helene in 2024, Lake Lure received excessive rain over two days, causing the lake to fill and overtop the dam, which compromised structural supports and eroded both sides around the dam, prompting local officials to call for mandatory evacuations for areas downstream of the dam. [6]
Blairsville is a city and the county seat of Union County, on the northern border of Georgia, United States. It was founded near the Nottely River, which was dammed in 1942 as part of the Tennessee Valley Authority project, forming Lake Nottely. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 616.
Lake Lure is a town in Rutherford County, North Carolina, United States. In 2020 the town population was 1,365. Lake Lure was incorporated in 1927, and acquired the lake after which it is named in 1965.
The Yadkin River is one of the longest rivers in the US state of North Carolina, flowing 215 miles (346 km). It rises in the northwestern portion of the state near the Blue Ridge Parkway's Thunder Hill Overlook. Several parts of the river are impounded by dams for water, power, and flood control. The river becomes the Pee Dee River at the confluence of the Uwharrie River south of the community of Badin and east of the town of Albemarle. The river then flows into South Carolina near Cheraw, which is at the Fall Line. The entirety of the Yadkin River and the Great Pee Dee River is part of the Yadkin-Pee Dee River Basin.
The Little Tennessee River is a 135-mile (217 km) tributary of the Tennessee River that flows through the Blue Ridge Mountains from Georgia, into North Carolina, and then into Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. It drains portions of three national forests— Chattahoochee, Nantahala, and Cherokee— and provides the southwestern boundary of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
The Catawba River is a major river located in the Southeastern United States. It originates in Western North Carolina and flows into South Carolina, where it later becomes known as the Wateree River. The river is approximately 220 miles (350 km) long. It rises in the Appalachian Mountains and drains into the Piedmont, where it has been impounded through a series of reservoirs for flood control and generation of hydroelectricity. The river is named after the Catawba tribe of Native Americans, which lives on its banks. In their language, they call themselves "yeh is-WAH h’reh", meaning "people of the river."
The Roanoke River runs 410 miles (660 km) long through southern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina in the United States. A major river of the southeastern United States, it drains a largely rural area of the coastal plain from the eastern edge of the Appalachian Mountains southeast across the Piedmont to Albemarle Sound. An important river throughout the history of the United States, it was the site of early settlement in the Virginia Colony and the Carolina Colony. An 81-mile (130 km) section of its lower course in Virginia between the Leesville Lake and Kerr Lake is known as the Staunton River, pronounced, as is the Shenandoah Valley city of that name. It is impounded along much of its middle course to form a chain of reservoirs.
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 Nolichucky River is a 115-mile (185 km) river that flows through western North Carolina and East Tennessee in the southeastern United States. Traversing the Pisgah National Forest and the Cherokee National Forest in the Blue Ridge Mountains, the river's watershed includes some of the highest mountains in the Appalachians, including Mount Mitchell in North Carolina, the highest point in the eastern United States. The river is a tributary of the French Broad River and is impounded by Nolichucky Dam near Greeneville, Tennessee.
Lake Wylie is a reservoir or man-made lake in the U.S. states of South Carolina and North Carolina. The lake has a surface area of 13,400 acres and features 325 miles (523 km) of shoreline.
Mountain Lake is a freshwater lake located in Giles County near Newport, Virginia in the United States. Along with Lake Drummond in the Great Dismal Swamp, it is one of only two natural lakes in Virginia. It was originally known as Salt Pond, as it was where cattle were given salt.
The Broad River is a principal tributary of the Congaree River, about 150 miles (240 km) long, in western North Carolina and northern South Carolina in the United States. Via the Congaree, it is part of the watershed of the Santee River, which flows to the Atlantic Ocean.
Bass Lake, situated in Madera County, California, within the Sierra National Forest and approximately 14 mi (23 km) south of Yosemite National Park, is a popular recreational area. The lake, formed by the Crane Valley Dam on Willow Creek, a tributary to the San Joaquin River, spans about four miles (6.4 km) in length and one-half mile (0.80 km) in width. Constructed in 1910 by Pacific Gas and Electric, the 145 ft (44 m) concrete gravity dam generates hydro-electric power through controlled releases. The lake supports a diverse ecosystem, including species such as black bears, mule deer, bald eagles, and Great blue herons, along with a variety of fish species.
Lake Glenville is a reservoir located eight miles from Cashiers, North Carolina to the dam and public beach. The headwaters, at Hurricane Creek, are less than two miles. It was formed by the damming of the west fork of the Tuckasegee River in 1941. Between 1951 and 2002, it was officially known as "Thorpe Reservoir" after J. E. S. Thorpe, Nantahala Power's first president. It is still listed as such on many maps. The lake bottom plunges as steeply as the mountains that meet the shore. The depth a short distance from the water's edge may register 80 feet (24 m) or more. The lake has 26 miles (42 km) of shoreline and encompasses 1,470 total acres. It is a twenty-minute drive from Western Carolina University, and the town of Sylva.
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. Apalachia Dam is classified by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as a high-hazard dam, meaning a dam failure may pose a deadly threat to nearby residents. The dam's condition is not made available to the public due to security concerns.
Blue Ridge Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the Toccoa River in Fannin County, in the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the uppermost of four dams on the Toccoa/Ocoee River owned and operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority. The dam impounds the 3,300-acre (1,300 ha) Blue Ridge Lake on the southwestern fringe of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Carters Lake is a man-made reservoir located on the Coosawattee River in the Blue Ridge Mountains in Gilmer and Murray counties in the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the state's deepest lake.
Walters Dam, also known locally as the Waterville Dam, is a hydroelectric dam in Haywood County of western North Carolina, in the Great Smoky Mountains.
Lake Adger is a mountain lake in Polk County, North Carolina, north of Tryon and south of Lake Lure, North Carolina.
North Carolina was severely impacted by Hurricane Helene during late September 2024, primarily in its western Appalachian region, causing at least 103 reported deaths and significant destruction of infrastructure and residential areas across several settlements. After making landfall in the Big Bend region of Florida on September 27, the hurricane began to traverse over land across Georgia as a Category 2 hurricane and into the Appalachian mountain range as a tropical storm, depositing record-breaking amounts of rainfall across several settlements in western North Carolina, such as Asheville, Swannanoa, Spruce Pine, Chimney Rock, Montreat, Lake Lure, and several others.
Municipalities and communities of Rutherford County, North Carolina, United States | ||
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| Unincorporated communities | ||