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50-570: Norris Dam is a straight concrete gravity-type dam. The dam is 1860 feet (570 m) long and 265 feet (81 m) high. Norris Lake, the largest reservoir on a tributary of the Tennessee River , has 33,840 acres (137 km) of water surface and 809 miles (1302 km) of shoreline. The dam has a maximum generating capacity of 126 megawatts . The Clinch River flows southwestward for 300 miles (480 km) from its headwaters in Virginia through

100-812: A U.S. Army Corps of Engineers project providing navigation on the Tombigbee River and a link to the Port of Mobile , enters the Tennessee River near the Tennessee-Alabama-Mississippi boundary. This waterway reduces the navigation distance from Tennessee, north Alabama, and northern Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico by hundreds of miles. The final part of the Tennessee's run is north through western Kentucky , where it separates

150-455: A $ 7,000 profit. Houses in the Loyston area ranged from primitive two-room log cabins to eight-room frame houses. Most houses were heated by fireplaces, although some had coal-burning stoves. Loyston's children attended either Loyston Elementary School or the nearby one-room Oakdale School. TVA agents discussed in depth with Loyston's residents the benefits of moving to more fertile lands in

200-617: A 73-mile (117 km) stretch of the Clinch from the dam to River Ridge at the Claiborne-Grainger county line. The reservoir also covers the lower 56 miles (90 km) of the Powell River , which empties into the Clinch 10 miles (16 km) upstream from Norris Dam. The dam's tailwaters are part of Melton Hill Lake, which stretches for 56 miles (90 km) along the Clinch from Norris to Melton Hill Dam . Norris Freeway,

250-468: A dam at the Cove Creek site, although all were eventually withdrawn or rejected. Part of the opposition was from Senator Norris, who advocated a government-sponsored dam at the site, arguing that a private entity would be almost wholly concerned with power generation rather than flood control and coordination with projects elsewhere in the valley. Norris proposed constructing a network of dams throughout

300-460: A dam at the Cove Creek site. On July 30, TVA renamed the Cove Creek project for Senator Norris and began preparations for the dam's construction. As the agency lacked any engineering or dam construction experience, it relied heavily on the Army Corps' original design, and received ample consulting from the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation . Hungarian-American architect Roland Wank (1898–1970) revised

350-546: A major highway for riverboats through the South, and today they are frequently used along the river. Major ports include Guntersville, Chattanooga , Decatur , Yellow Creek, and Muscle Shoals . This river has contributed greatly to the economic and industrial development of the Tennessee Valley as a whole. The economies of cities such as Decatur and Chattanooga would not be as dynamic as they are today, were it not for

400-427: A section of U.S. Highway 441 widened in the 1930s to aid in dam construction, crosses the top of Norris Dam and connects the area to Interstate 75 at Rocky Top, Tennessee to the west and Knoxville, Tennessee to the south. Along with the reservation maintained by TVA for the operation of Norris Dam, most of the lower Norris Reservoir is surrounded by conservation lands, including Norris Dam State Park adjacent to

450-606: A shorter trip for river traffic going from the Tennessee to most of the Ohio River, and for traffic going down the Cumberland River toward Tennessee. The Tennessee River and its tributaries host some 102 species of mussel . Native Americans ate freshwater mussels. Potters of the Mississippian culture used crushed mussel shell mixed into clay to make their pottery stronger. A "pearl" button industry

500-583: A trading center for local farmers. By the time the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) began making plans to build Norris Dam in the early 1930s, Loyston had a population of approximately 70 residents, and consisted of a post office and several small businesses. Prior to inundation, TVA conducted extensive sociological surveys of Loyston's residents, and the community was documented by photographer Lewis Hine . Most Loyston residents, forced out by eminent domain , relocated elsewhere in

550-423: Is projected to have a new lock built, but it has been delayed due to a lack of funding. The river not only has many economic functions, such as the boat building industry and transportation, but it also provides water and natural resources to those who live near the river. Many of the major ports on the river are connected to a settlement that was started because of its proximity to the river. On October 15, 2022,

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600-554: The Huntsville and Decatur area before reaching the Muscle Shoals area, and eventually forms a small part of the state's border with Mississippi , before returning to Tennessee. The river misses Georgia by about 250 feet (76 m). The Tennessee River's route northerly through Tennessee defines the boundary between two of Tennessee's Grand Divisions : Middle and West Tennessee . The Tennessee–Tombigbee Waterway ,

650-548: The Jackson Purchase from the rest of the state. It flows into the Ohio River at Paducah, Kentucky . The river valley was once home to several Native American tribes. At Painted Bluff , in northeast Alabama, painted glyphs dating to ca. 1400 A.D. have been discovered among cliffs overlooking the river. The first major battles of the American Civil War occurred along the river in 1862. The commander in

700-804: The Ohio River . It is approximately 652 miles (1,049 km) 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, as the Cherokee people had their homelands along its banks, especially in what are now East Tennessee and northern Alabama . Additionally, its tributary, the Little Tennessee River , flows into it from Western North Carolina and northeastern Georgia, where

750-793: The Tennessee Bar Journal , a publication of the Tennessee Bar Association. In 2008, as a result of a serious drought and resulting water shortage, the Georgia General Assembly passed a resolution directing the governor to pursue its claim in the United States Supreme Court . According to a story aired on WTVC-TV in Chattanooga on March 14, 2008, a local attorney familiar with case law on border disputes, said

800-456: The Clinch and Powell watershed has been argued by scholars and historians, specifically regarding the TVA's acquisition of roughly 150,000 acres (61,000 ha) of farmland, and the displacement of an estimated 3,000 families and 5,300 graves. Many of the dead buried in cemeteries that were to be flooded by the dam reservoir were disinterred and reburied in four "re-interment cemeteries" established by

850-419: The Loyston area in the early 1930s, some of whom operated one of the community's general stores . In the early 19th century, John Loy established a foundry in the area, taking advantage of the iron ore deposits at the base of Big Ridge. The community that developed around the foundry was known variously as "Loy" and "Loy's Crossroads." When a post office was established in the community in 1866, it took

900-497: The Supreme Court to settle the issue once and for all. The Atlantic Wire , in commenting on Georgia's actions stated: "The Great Georgia-Tennessee Border War of 2013 Is Upon Us Historians, take note: On this day, which is not a day in 1732, a boundary dispute between two Southern states took a turn for the wet. In a two-page resolution passed overwhelmingly by the state senate, Georgia declared that it, not its neighbor to

950-619: The TVA: Baker's Forge Memorial Cemetery, Cumberland View Cemetery, Big Barren Memorial Cemetery, and New Loyston Memorial Cemetery. Union County , the most negatively impacted county of the Norris Project, would encounter the inundation of the unincorporated town of Loyston and other scarce communities of the Big Valley region of Union County. The town of Big Barren and the settlement of Baker's Forge were also inundated. After

1000-603: The Tennessee River as the "River of the Cherakees." By the late 18th century, it had come to be called "Tennessee," a name derived from the Cherokee village named Tanasi . The Tennessee River is formed at the confluence of the Holston and French Broad rivers in present-day Knoxville, Tennessee . From Knoxville, it flows southwest through East Tennessee into Chattanooga before crossing into Alabama . It travels through

1050-429: The Tennessee River. Many companies still rely on the river as a means of transportation for their materials. In Chattanooga, for example, steel is exported on boats, as it is much more efficient than moving it on land. In addition, locks along the Tennessee River waterway provide passage between reservoirs for more than 13,000 recreational craft each year. The Chickamauga Dam , located just upstream from Chattanooga,

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1100-430: The U.S. Supreme Court generally will maintain the original borders between states and avoid stepping into border disputes, preferring the parties work out their differences. The Chattanooga Times Free Press reported on March 25, 2013, that Georgia senators approved House Resolution 4 stating that if Tennessee declines to settle with them, the dispute will be given to the state attorney general, to take Tennessee before

1150-523: The University of Tennessee Volunteers football team defeated the University of Alabama Crimson Tide 52–49 at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tennessee, on a game-winning field goal by Chase McGrath as time expired. In celebration of this victory, the fans stormed the field, tore down the goalposts, and threw them into the Tennessee River after an impromptu parade in which fans carried the goalposts around

1200-467: The actual border line was set on the ground approximately one mile south, thus placing the disputed portion of the river entirely in Tennessee. Georgia made several unsuccessful attempts to correct what Georgia felt was an erroneous survey line "in the 1890s, 1905, 1915, 1922, 1941, 1947 and 1971 to 'resolve' the dispute", according to C. Crews Townsend, Joseph McCoin, Robert F. Parsley, Alison Martin and Zachary H. Greene, in their May 12, 2008, article for

1250-417: The agency. TVA subsequently purchased the assets of the former Tennessee Electric Power Company, including some dams which had been built before Norris Dam. The building of Norris Dam and the changes it brought to the region inspired films, books, stage plays, and songs. Folk songs from the construction period express enthusiasm for the benefits that the dam project brought to the region. Notable visitors to

1300-525: The area having been identified by long hunters travelling down the Clinch Valley during the previous decade. In 1933, Sharp's descendants were still prominent members of the Loyston community, evidenced by names such as "Sharp's Station Methodist Episcopal Church," which was located just outside Loyston. Another notable early settler, Robert Stooksbury, moved to the Loyston area around 1800. Several dozen of Stooksbury's descendants were still living in

1350-468: The area, with many forming the community of New Loyston in the hills to the south. Loyston was located near where Mill Creek empties into the Clinch River , at river mile 98. Mill Creek's drainage carved a broad valley known as Big Valley, flanked on the south by Lone Mountain and on the east by Big Ridge. At Loyston, State Highway 61 intersected a major local road. The trip to Knoxville from Loyston

1400-582: The beginning of the Tennessee River. Through much of the 19th century, the Tennessee River was considered to start at the mouth of Clinch River (at Kingston ). An 1889 declaration by the Tennessee General Assembly designated Kingsport (on the Holston River ) as the start of the Tennessee, but the following year a federal law was enacted that finally fixed the start of the river at its current location. At various points since

1450-722: The city of Knoxville. The river has been dammed numerous times since the 1930s by Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) projects. The construction of TVA's Kentucky Dam on the Tennessee River and the Corps of Engineers' Barkley Dam on the Cumberland River led to the development of associated lakes, and the creation of an area called the Land Between the Lakes . A navigation canal located at Grand Rivers, Kentucky , links Kentucky Lake and Lake Barkley . The canal allows for

1500-519: The dam included President Franklin D. Roosevelt and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt , French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre , journalist Ernie Pyle , Swiss architect Le Corbusier , track star Jesse Owens , and Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru . In 1941, the dam was the subject of a photography exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. The project's intent of providing aid to residents of

1550-545: The early 19th century, Georgia has disputed its northern border with Tennessee. In 1796, when Tennessee was admitted to the Union, the border was originally defined by United States Congress as located on the 35th parallel, thereby ensuring that at least a portion of the river would be located within Georgia. As a result of an erroneously conducted survey in 1818 (ratified by the Tennessee legislature, but not Georgia), however,

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1600-422: The initial plans from Bureau of Reclamation engineers, and gave the poured-concrete Norris Dam a modernist style , which was controversial and advanced for the era of construction, but the result would eventually succeed in elevating Roland Wank to the position of Chief Architect for TVA from 1933 through 1944. Construction began on October 1, 1933. The building of Norris Dam and its accompanying reservoir required

1650-466: The lower parts of the valley, and were perplexed when most of the community's residents chose to move no further than the less lucrative adjacent hill country. In an attempt to keep the community intact, many of the displaced residents established New Loyston a few miles to the south. A significant number moved to Knoxville , and others moved to nearby Anderson County or to Blount or Loudon counties south of Knoxville. The valley in which Loyston

1700-492: The mouth of the Tennessee River upstream. Loyston, Tennessee Loyston is a ghost town in Union County, Tennessee , United States, that was inundated by the waters of the Clinch River after the completion of Norris Dam in 1936. Established in the early 19th century around a foundry built by its namesake, John Loy, over subsequent decades the community's location along State Highway 61 helped it grow into

1750-678: The name "Loy's Cross Roads," but the name was changed to Loyston in 1894. By the early 1930s, when TVA agents were surveying the Clinch River Valley for the Norris Dam Project, Loyston consisted of a post office, two general stores, a filling station, a cafe, a mill, and a barbershop. A Delco Light system provided electricity to Loyston's businesses and a few of its houses. TVA and the University of Tennessee Department of Agriculture's extension service helped Loyston families relocate, driving them to farms for sale around

1800-471: The north, controls part of the Tennessee River at Nickajack . Georgia doesn't want Nickajack. It wants that water.". The Tennessee River is an important part of the Great Loop , the recreational circumnavigation of Eastern North America by water. The main channel is accessible to recreational watercraft at over 200 public access points along the river's course. The Tennessee River has historically been

1850-417: The project called for the construction of recreational areas along the lakeshore, TVA built two supplemental dams—Caryville Dam and Big Ridge Dam—to impound Cove Lake and Big Ridge Lake, respectively, and ensure these small lakes would remain filled year-round. The Civilian Conservation Corps built recreational facilities and aided in the removal of various structures. The town of Norris, Tennessee

1900-408: The project's completion, the Big Valley region of Union County, promised its electrification by the project's end, would not receive electricity until the late 1940s and early 1950s. Some of the displaced in the aftermath of the Norris Project would commit suicide, unable to bear the stress of the loss of their lifestyles. Tennessee River The Tennessee River is the largest tributary of

1950-504: The purchase of over 152,000 acres (62,000 ha) of land. 2,841 families and 5,226 graves were relocated. The community of Loyston , located about 20 miles (32 km) upstream from the dam site, was entirely inundated. Approximately one-third of Caryville, at the head of the reservoir's Cove Creek embayment, was flooded and a number of structures in the town had to be moved. Several smaller 30-foot (9.1 m) earthen dams were built along reservoir tributaries to house fish hatcheries. As

2000-482: The region (one Loyston family required 25 such trips before finding a farm that satisfied them). CCC Company 4495, which built Big Ridge State Park, was headquartered at Loyston. TVA's studies showed that most residents of the Norris Basin were living in relative poverty, although Loyston's residents fared better due to better farm land. The Stooksbury general store had sales of $ 50,000 per year, resulting in

2050-572: The reservation, the Cove Creek Wildlife Management Area across the lake to the north, and the Chuck Swan State Forest, which protects a largely undeveloped area a few miles upstream. As early as 1911, the present site of Norris Dam—initially called the "Cove Creek site"—was identified as a prime location for a sizeable dam. Several government and private entities believed that a dam in

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2100-492: The river also was bordered by numerous Cherokee towns. Its current name is derived from the Cherokee town, Tanasi , which was located on the Tennessee side of the Appalachian Mountains. The river appears on French maps from the late 17th century with the names "Caquinampo" or "Kasqui." Maps from the early 18th century call it "Cussate," " Hogohegee ," "Callamaco," and "Acanseapi." A 1755 British map showed

2150-454: The rugged, sparsely populated hills of northeastern Tennessee before emptying into the Tennessee River near Kingston . Norris Dam is located at just over 79 miles (127 km) upstream from the mouth of the Clinch, immediately downstream from the river's confluence with Cove Creek, which joins the river from the northwest. The reservoir includes parts of Anderson, Campbell, Union , Claiborne , and Grainger counties. Norris Reservoir spans

2200-567: The upper Tennessee Valley, working in conjunction with dams at Muscle Shoals, Alabama , could provide badly needed flood control to East Tennessee and help keep the Tennessee River consistently navigable year-round. In the early 1920s, several entities—including the Tennessee Electric Power Company (TEPCo), the Knoxville Power & Light Company, and Union Carbide — applied for permits to build

2250-561: The valley to help regulate its outflow into the lower Mississippi River . Throughout the late 1920s, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers made several proposals to build a dam at the site, but all were rejected by Congress or vetoed by President Calvin Coolidge . The Tennessee Valley Authority was formed in 1933 as part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal legislation. The act authorizing TVA's establishment (signed on May 18, 1933) authorized TVA to immediately begin construction on

2300-605: The western theater, General Henry Halleck , considered the Tennessee River to be more significant than the Mississippi. The Tennessee River begins at mile post 652, where the French Broad River meets the Holston River, but historically there were several different definitions of its starting point. In the late 18th century, the mouth of the Little Tennessee River (at Lenoir City ) was considered to be

2350-479: Was a 30-mile (48 km) drive on Highway 61 (which has since been re-routed). Loyston is now under a mile-wide section of Norris Lake known as the "Loyston Sea," located along the shores of Big Ridge State Park . In the 1780s, German immigrant Henry Sharp built a frontier fort known as "Sharp's Station", now known as Sharps Chapel , on the slopes of Big Ridge overlooking the Clinch River east of Loyston,

2400-405: Was established in the Tennessee Valley beginning in 1887, producing buttons from the abundant mussel shells. Button production ceased after World War II when plastics replaced mother-of-pearl as a button material. Mussel populations have declined drastically due to dam construction, water pollution, and invasive species . Tributaries and sub-tributaries are listed hierarchically in order from

2450-405: Was initially built as a planned community to house the workers involved in the construction of this dam. Norris Dam was completed and the gates closed on March 4, 1936, constructed at a cost of $ 36 million (equivalent to $ 622 million in 2023). The dam's first generator went online on July 28, 1936. Although Norris was the first dam built by TVA, it is not the oldest dam owned and operated by

2500-584: Was once located is now submerged under the widest part of Norris Lake, the mile-wide "Loyston Sea." While building the Norris reservoir, TVA engineers determined that a saddle dam would be necessary to prevent water from the Mill Creek embayment from escaping into the Buffalo Creek Valley (which empties into the Clinch downstream from Norris Dam). This saddle dam, known as the "Loyston Dike,"

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