Cheoah Dam

{{short description|Historic district in North Carolina, United States}}

{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}

__NOTOC__

{{Infobox NRHP

| name = Cheoah Hydroelectric Development

| nrhp_type = hd

| nocat = yes

| image = Cheoah Dam aerial – near Robbinsville, North Carolina 02.jpg

| caption = Cheoah Hydroelectric Dam, 2024

| location = 1512 Tapoca Rd., US 129, near Robbinsville, North Carolina

| coordinates = {{coord|35|27|0|N|83|56|10|W|display=inline,title}}

| locmapin = North Carolina#USA

| built = {{Start date and age|1919}}

| builder = Power & Engineering Group of Alcoa

| architecture = Classical Revival

| added = May 21, 2004

| area = {{convert|25|acre}}

| mpsub = Tapoco Hydroelectric Project MPS

| refnum = 04000464{{NRISref|version=2010a}}

}}

The Cheoah Dam is a hydroelectric dam located in Graham and Swain counties, North Carolina, on the Little Tennessee River between river miles 51 and 52. The Cheoah Development consists of a dam and powerhouse, the first of several constructed by the Tallassee Power Company (now Tapoco), a subsidiary of Aluminum Company of America (now Alcoa), in order to generate electricity to smelt aluminum in Alcoa, Tennessee. The name Cheoah comes from the Cherokee Native American word for "otter."{{Cite news |last=Chávez |first=Karen |date=2018-03-09 |title=With three boater deaths on the Cheoah River in a decade, is it too dangerous? |url=https://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2018/03/09/three-boater-deaths-cheoah-river-decade-too-dangerous/397293002/ |access-date=2025-04-06 |work=Asheville Citizen-Times |publisher=Gannett}}

The Cheoah project began in 1916 as a construction camp at the Narrows, where the Little Tennessee River flowed through a narrow gorge, and it was completed in 1919. Cheoah Dam created the long, narrow Cheoah Reservoir, which covers approximately {{convert|644|acres}} of the normal full pool area and a drainage area of {{convert|1608|mi2|km2}}. The elevation of Cheoah Reservoir is {{convert|1276.8|ft}} (USGS). A scenic highway runs the length of the reservoir.{{Cite web |author=Philip Thomason and Teresa Douglass |title=Cheoah Hydroelectric Development |work=National Register of Historic Places - Nomination and Inventory |date=October 2003 |url=https://files.nc.gov/ncdcr/nr/GH0047.pdf |publisher=North Carolina State Historic Preservation Office |accessdate=2014-11-01}}

The water inflow for Cheoah, like that of Calderwood and Chilhowee, is primarily dependent on releases from TVA's Fontana Dam, the primary flow control facility for the lower Little Tennessee River. Tapoco operated the Cheoah Development until 2012, when it was sold to Brookfield Renewable Energy Partners, forming Brookfield Smoky Mountain Hydropower.[http://www.alcoa.com/tapoco/en/info_page/cheoah.asp Alcoa website] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070820095222/http://www.alcoa.com/tapoco/en/info_page/cheoah.asp |date=2007-08-20}}, Retrieved on 2009-10-29.

When completed in 1919, the {{convert|225|ft|adj=on}} dam was the world's highest overflow dam. The turbines were the largest in the world, and the 150,000-volt transmission line had the highest voltage and the longest span for a transmission line—{{convert|5010|ft}} across the river below Cheoah Dam.{{cite web|url=http://www.grahamcounty.net/GCHistory/06-tapoco/tapoco.htm|title=History of Tapoco|last=Barrett|first=J.S.|accessdate=2010-01-14}} The dam and associated structures were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.

The dam was used as a filming location for the 1993 movie The Fugitive, starring Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones.[http://www.blueridgeheritage.com/attractions-destinations/sample-itineraries/far-western-nature-tour Blueridge National Heritage Area website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120222134342/http://www.blueridgeheritage.com/attractions-destinations/sample-itineraries/far-western-nature-tour |date=2012-02-22}}, Retrieved on 2009-10-29.