Tygart Dam — also known as Tygart River Dam — is a dam built and operated by the United States Army Corps of Engineers in

Taylor County, West Virginia Taylor County is a county in the U.S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 16,705. Its county seat is Grafton. The county was formed in 1844 and named for Senator John Taylor of Caroline. Taylor County is part of ...

, United States. The dam regulates the waters of the Tygart Valley River. Its storage reservoir is known as

Tygart Lake Tygart Dam — also known as Tygart River Dam — is a dam built and operated by the United States Army Corps of Engineers in Taylor County, West Virginia, United States. The dam regulates the waters of the Tygart Valley River. Its storage reservo ...

. Most of the lakeshore is occupied by

Tygart Lake State Park Tygart Lake State Park sits on along the shores of Tygart Lake in Taylor County near Grafton, West Virginia, United States. Facilities * 20-room Tygart Lake Lodge * Lodge restaurant * 2 gift shops * 11 cabins * 40 camp sites (10 with electric ...

and Pleasant Creek Wildlife Management Area. The structure was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1995.

History

Tygart Dam and Lake were authorized by the

Rivers and Harbors Act of 1935 A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wate ...

; they represented the first of 16 flood control projects in the Pittsburgh District of the

United States Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

."Tygart Lake", Pittsburgh District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
website. The Dam was designed in part by architect Paul Philippe Cret and built between 1934 and 1938, as a project sponsored by the

Public Works Administration The Public Works Administration (PWA), part of the New Deal of 1933, was a large-scale public works construction agency in the United States headed by Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes. It was created by the National Industrial Recove ...

to provide for flood control. Small communities — such as

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, Cove Run, and Stone House — were partially or fully evacuated at the time of the dam construction. The intent of the project was to provide flood protection for the Tygart River Valley as well as for the Monongahela and upper Ohio Rivers. Construction costs totaled $18.5 million.

Description

The dam

Tygart Dam is about south of Grafton. It is owned and operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The concrete gravity dam has an uncontrolled spillway and measures long and thick at the base. The structure features some

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

style decorative elements. Located within the historic area are the Tygart Dam; two dam tender dwellings; two maintenance buildings; comfort, storage and concession building; overlook and parking area; and resource manager's office.

The lake

Tygart Lake is situated in the south-central part of Taylor County, although the southern end of the reservoir reaches into northern Barbour County. It has the capability to store the equivalent run-off of 4.56 inches of precipitation from the Lake's 1,184 square mile drainage area. The project's flood control benefits were demonstrated most notably during the November 1985 floods when it prevented an estimated $195.8 million in damages and lowered flood crests along the Monongahela River by as much as 6.8 feet. Since its completion in 1938, Tygart Dam has prevented flood damages estimated by the Corps to be nearly $1.2 billion."Tygart Lake", Pittsburgh District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
website.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places in West Virginia Art Deco architecture in West Virginia Dams completed in 1938 Buildings and structures in Taylor County, West Virginia Dams on the National Register of Historic Places in West Virginia Industrial buildings and structures on the National Register of Historic Places in West Virginia Paul Philippe Cret buildings Public Works Administration in West Virginia United States Army Corps of Engineers dams Dams in West Virginia National Register of Historic Places in Taylor County, West Virginia