Calderwood Dam
National Register of Historic Places

Calderwood Dam

Calderwood, Blount County, Tennessee
Listed
August 20, 1989
Type
Structure
Period
Civil War
Ref No.
89001069

About this property

Calderwood Dam is a hydroelectric dam located along the Little Tennessee River in Blount and Monroe counties, in the U. S. state of Tennessee. Completed in 1930, the dam is owned and maintained by Tapoco, a subsidiary of the Aluminum Company of America (Alcoa), although the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) controls the dam's reservoir levels from Fontana Dam further upstream. Calderwood Dam is named for Alcoa engineer Isaac Glidden Calderwood (1871–1941), who supervised much of the company's early Little Tennessee River operations. Calderwood Dam was one of four dams—along with Cheoah, Santeetlah, and Chilhowee—built in the Little Tennessee Valley by Alcoa in the 20th century to provide electricity to its aluminum smelting operations in Blount County. The dam was one of the last to be completed in the Tennessee River watershed before TVA took control of the watershed in 1933. Alcoa developed the community of Calderwood, Tennessee, just downstream from the dam to house construction and maintenance crews for its Little Tennessee Valley operations. In 1989, Calderwood Dam was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. The listing was expanded in 1990 and again in 2004 to include most of the dam's substructures.

Location

Calderwood, Blount County, Tennessee
35.49246, -83.98258

Categories

INDUSTRYENGINEERING
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Native Heritage
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Nearby Historic Sites

Calderwood Hydroelectric Development
Civil War
0.7 mi
Chilhowee Hydroelectric Development
Modern
5.3 mi
Happy Valley School
Industrial
8.2 mi
Clark, Langston, Barn
Industrial
10.1 mi
Kerr, Macklin, House
Early Republic
11.1 mi

Nearby Battles

Siege of Fort Loudoun (1760)
1760Colonial
11.9 mi

Questions about this property

When was Calderwood Dam listed on the National Register?

Calderwood Dam was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on August 20, 1989.

What type of historic resource is Calderwood Dam?

Calderwood Dam is classified as a structure in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Calderwood Dam?

The period of significance for Calderwood Dam is recorded as the civil_war era, specifically around 1871.

Can I research the history near Calderwood Dam?

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