In 1942, the TVA constructed a 2,950
foot earth fill dam across the Hiawassee River, forming Lake Chatuge.
The record in the Towns County Herald
on Thursday, May 29, 1941, states:
"The Tennessee Valley Authority,
faced with a serious shortage of electric power for defense industries
in the southeast, has requested $51,000,000 for the construction of
four new dams on the Hiwassee River at the Barnett Bridge in North Carolina
(just over the Towns County, GA, line.) Two of the proposed dams will
be storage dams, while the other two will be power dams. The one affecting
this county most will be a storage dam. Indications point to early start
on the construction of the dam..."
On July 17, 1941, the Senate passed
the TVA bill, paving the way for construction to begin in earnest. "Water
contour lines have been surveyed and the markers show that Hiawassee,
the town so reported as being in danger of complete inundation, will
be able to keep doing business at the same old stand. The land acquisition
men are still working on deeds and titles at the courthouse in Hiawassee.
Orders to go to work on the dam are expected any day."
Construction of the earth-filled
Chatuge Dam across the Hiwassee
River about three miles southeast of Hayesville, NC, began on July
17, 1941. The TVA dams brought badly needed jobs for local folks in
the lingering post-depression years, which was a definite boost for
the local economy. The construction of the Lake Chatuge Project incurred
1,521,831 man hours of labor. During the construction 1 man lost his
life, and 24 suffered injuries. Of course, the folks whose land lay
in the path of the lake were not so happy. Gone forever were the approximately
3,700 acres in Clay County, NC and 3,500 acres in Towns County, Georgia.
It was the area's richest and best farmland from which the residents
had gleaned their livelihoods. Churches and schools were interrupted
and moved, 532 grave sites had to be relocated. The January 9, 1942
issue of the Towns County Herald, stated that "...141 houses had
to be moved ...about 60 families have left the county--affected directly
or indirectly by the building of the dam."
