5 research outputs found
Interview with Delia Woodard Watkins
No full textDelia Woodard Watkins, born in Swain County, was 16 when construction started on Fontana Dam. The dam, completed in 1945 by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), is built on the Little Tennessee River and is located near Fontana Village in Graham County, North Carolina. Watkins discusses how Swain County residents were told the dam would help the World War II effort and people were initially supportive of the dam construction believing the power generated from the dam would help win the war. According to Watkins, the TVA failed in its promise regarding the amount of power generated. Furthermore, the TVA took more land than needed to build the dam while amount of compensation paid to people who lost their land to dam construction was minimal
Interview with Christine Cole Proctor and James L. Sizemore
No full textChristine Cole Proctor speaks about how her family and others were moved from their homes so that the Fontana Dam could be built. The dam, completed in 1945 by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), is built on the Little Tennessee River and is located near Fontana Village in Graham County, North Carolina. Cole also mentions the cemeteries that the TVA had intitially acquired from the community but had later neglected to maintain. James L. Sizemore, whose family owned approximately 1,000 acres on the north shore of Fontana Dam, discusses how the building of the dam and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park resulted in widespread displacement of people in Swain and Graham counties. Proctor and Sizemore also mention a road that was supposed to have been built by the Park authorities on land that had been acquired by the Park from the TVA
Interview with Claude M. Douthit
No full textClaude Douthit discusses a few of the logging companies operating in the area where the Fontana Dam was built. According to Douthit, the lumber companies were the main source of employment for people in Swain County prior to the building of Fontana Dam. The Fontana Dam, completed in 1945, is built on the Little Tennessee River and is located near Fontana Village in Graham County, North Carolina
Interview with Commodore A. Casada
No full text100 year old Commodore Casada talks about the building of Fontana Dam, the largest dam of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) system, and its effects on the residents of Bryson City. The Fontana Dam, completed in 1945, is built on the Little Tennessee River and is located near Fontana Village in Graham County, North Carolina
Interview with Edna and Troy Whiteside
No full textTroy and Edna Whiteside talk about the ambivalent feelings that Swain County residents had towards the construction of the Fontana Dam. While the dam's construction resulted in people losing land in return for inadequate compensation and having to relocate, it also brought jobs to the area.
The largest dam of the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) system, Fontana Dam is built on the Little Tennessee River and was completed in 1945
