Cherokee Dam is a
hydroelectric dam
Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined and ...
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
The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is a federally owned electric utility corporation in the United States. TVA's service area covers all of Tennessee, portions of Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, and small areas of Georgia, North Carolina ...
, which built the dam in the early 1940s to help meet urgent demands for energy at the outbreak of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.
[Tennessee Valley Authority, ''The Cherokee Project: A Comprehensive Report on the Planning, Design, Construction, and Initial Operations of the Cherokee Project'', Technical Report no. 7 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1946), pp. 1-19, 32, 237.] Cherokee Dam is high and impounds the
Cherokee Lake
Cherokee Lake, also known as Cherokee Reservoir, is an artificial reservoir in the U.S. state of Tennessee formed by the impoundment of the Holston River behind Cherokee Dam.
Hydrology
The reservoir has a surface area of about , a flood-storage ...
. It has a generating capacity of 136
megawatts. The dam was named for the
Cherokee
The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, t ...
, a
Native American tribe that controlled much of East Tennessee when the first European settlers arrived in the mid-18th century.
[Tennessee Valley Authority]
Cherokee Lake
Retrieved: 7 January 2009.
Location
The
South Fork and
North Fork of the Holston River merge to form the Holston River proper in
Kingsport, Tennessee
Kingsport is a city in Sullivan and Hawkins counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, its population was 55,442. Lying along the Holston River, Kingsport is commonly included in what is known as the Mountain Empire, w ...
, from which the river proceeds southwestward for just over across northeastern Tennessee before joining with the
French Broad River in
Knoxville to form the
Tennessee River
The Tennessee River is the largest tributary of the Ohio River. It is approximately long and is located in the southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley. The river was once popularly known as the Cherokee River, among other names, ...
. Cherokee Dam is located approximately upstream from the Holston's mouth. The dam was built immediately downstream from a point where Mossy Creek, which flows northeastward from
Jefferson City, joins the Holston to create a T-shaped formation. The dam's immediate headwaters and tailwaters still resemble this formation.
Cherokee Lake stretches for from the dam to the
John Sevier Combined Cycle Plant just south of
Rogersville, Tennessee, and includes parts of Jefferson, Grainger, Hamblen, and
Hawkins counties. The lake's Mossy Creek embayment reaches all the way to the city limits of Jefferson City.
Tennessee State Route 92
State Route 92 (SR 92) is a state highway in East Tennessee with both four lane and two lane sections.
Route description
SR 92 begins at US 411/ SR 35 in Chestnut Hill. It heads north toward Dandridge and crosses over the French Broad River/D ...
crosses the Holston just downstream from the dam.
Background and construction
In 1940, with World War II raging across Europe, the United States government saw an urgent need to strengthen its military and defense infrastructure. This required a massive expansion of
aluminum
Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It has ...
production facilities, many of which were located in the Tennessee Valley. To provide the necessary electricity, the Tennessee Valley Authority submitted a proposal for the construction of a new dam on the Holston River (the site— known as the "Mossy Creek site"— had already been selected and preliminary plans had been drawn up), the construction of a new coal plant (Watts Bar Fossil Plant, which operated 1942-1982) and for the expansion of the generating capacity of the existing
Wilson
Wilson may refer to:
People
* Wilson (name)
** List of people with given name Wilson
** List of people with surname Wilson
* Wilson (footballer, 1927–1998), Brazilian manager and defender
* Wilson (footballer, born 1984), full name Wilson Ro ...
and
Pickwick Landing dams to Congress in July 1940 (the measure was later expanded to include construction of
Douglas Dam
Douglas Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the French Broad River in Sevier County, Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. The dam is operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), which built the dam in record time in the early 1940s to me ...
,
Fontana Dam
Fontana Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the Little Tennessee River in Swain and Graham counties, North Carolina, United States. The dam is operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority, which built the dam in the early 1940s to satisfy the skyrocketin ...
, and several dams along the
Hiwassee and
Ocoee rivers). Congress approved funds for the measure within a few days and President
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
signed the measure into law on July 1, 1940. Construction on Cherokee Dam began the following day.
The Cherokee project required the purchase of of land, nearly of which were wooded and required clearing. The project also required the relocation of 875 families, 51 cemeteries, and a historical tavern at
Bean Station (which was the only major community that was flooded). The water supplies of Jefferson City and
Morristown had to be modified, and of roadway had to be redirected. Fourteen new bridges were constructed and five existing bridges were raised above reservoir operating levels. Three earthen saddle dams, with a combined length of , were constructed to fill gaps in the ridge immediately south of the main dam. As Congress eliminated a number bureaucratic obstacles regarding delivery of materials, construction proceeded at a smooth and rapid pace. On December 5, 1941, construction was completed, the gates were closed, and the reservoir began to fill. Power generation began on April 16, 1942, less than two years after the dam was first proposed.
Operation and output
Cherokee Dam is a gravity-type concrete spillway dam consisting of nine crest gates and eight sluice gates (the latter allowing reservoir control when water level is low).
The combined capacity of the dam's four hydroelectric generators is 135,200 kilowatts. Cherokee Lake has a flood-storage capacity of .
The reservoir operates up to an elevation of ,
and varies by in a typical year.
The dam lacks navigational locks, although its design allows them to be added if the necessity for them should arise.
While Cherokee's primary purpose is hydroelectric power production, like other TVA dams it also helps control flooding, which was rampant in the Tennessee Valley before the 1930s.
Numerous recreational areas exist along Cherokee Lake, including
Panther Creek State Park
Panther Creek State Park is a state park in Morristown, Tennessee, United States. It is located prominently on the shore of Cherokee Lake, an impoundment of the Holston River. The western terminus of Tennessee State Route 342 is located insid ...
, several smaller parks, and 20 public boat launches. The
Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency regularly stocks the lake with
walleye
The walleye (''Sander vitreus'', synonym ''Stizostedion vitreum''), also called the yellow pike or yellow pickerel, is a freshwater perciform fish native to most of Canada and to the Northern United States. It is a North American close relat ...
,
crappie
Crappies () are two species of North American freshwater fish of the genus ''Pomoxis'' in the family Centrarchidae (sunfishes). Both species of crappies are popular game fish among recreational anglers.
Etymology
The genus name ''Pomoxis'' ...
, and
hybrid striped bass for recreational fishing.
As the arrival of
Hurricane Florence approached, the TVA released water at Cherokee from its spill gates. These spill gates were used for the first time since 1994.
References
External links
Cherokee Reservoir— official TVA site
— Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency Cherokee Lake information
{{Tennessee Valley Authority Facilities
Holston River
Tennessee Valley Authority dams
Dams in Tennessee
Hydroelectric power plants in Tennessee
Buildings and structures in Grainger County, Tennessee
Buildings and structures in Jefferson County, Tennessee
Dams completed in 1941
Energy infrastructure completed in 1941