Cherokee Dam is a project of the Tennessee Valley Authority, which developed the dam in response to urgent energy needs during World War II. The dam was completed in 1943 and officially opened by President Franklin D. Roosevelt later that year. It serves as a storage reservoir for water from the Holston River that runs through Grainger and Jefferson counties into the Tennessee River, which supplies water to many areas of eastern North America. Learn about the next POI here

The Cherokee Dam was built by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) in response to a severe drought-related power shortage during World War II. The TVA, which had been formed in 1933 to provide electricity for southern states, began construction on the dam in 1940 under President Roosevelt’s New Deal programs. The TVA was charged with developing and providing hydroelectric power for Tennessee and other states that were suffering from severe shortages of electricity caused by wartime rationing of fuel supplies. In 1942, three years after construction began on Cherokee Dam, it was declared fully operational; however, it remained underutilized until 1957 when increased demand resulted in an increase of power generation at Cherokee Lake from 137 megawatts (MW) to 212 MW. Click here to learn more

By 1960, additional new generating capacity had been added at Cherokee Lake including two 500-MW units and one 1,000-MW unit known as “Hog Creek” generating station. Subsequently, additional generating capacity became needed at Cherokee Lake due to increasing population growth.