My home town, is a
HALF mile down
The Construction of Norris Dam
Though it took years for the Tennessee Valley Authority to come into fruition, comparatively, the creation of Norris Dam started in a split second. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the TVA into law on May 18th of 1933, and actual construction began a mere 5.5 months later on October 1st. Though it was originally called the Cove Creek project, the name was changed to Norris Dam after Senator George Norris of Nebraska who spearheaded the act. By the end of March 1936, the gates of the dam had closed and water began filling [16].
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(Above) Sun, Feb 05, 1933 [3]
(Below) Tue, Apr 11, 1933 [4]
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(Top Left) Wed, May 17, 1933 [5]
(Direct Left) Thu, May 04, 1933 [7]
At the peak of its construction, the TVA hired almost 3000 people to build the dam [16].
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“Even the oldest man in the valley, 82-year-old Emanuel Loy, after whose ancestors the 150-year-old village was named, doesn’t seem to mind it much anymore. 'Of course, I wish they didn’t do it, but I guess it won’t make much of a difference to me. I expect I’ll be in the ground before the water comes.'"
(Right) Sun, Apr 30, 1933 [10]
Though it was common at the time to build temporary living camps for those working on government projects, the town of Norris was a permanent town created for the dam workers, one that still exists today [16].
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(Above) Fri, Jul 06, 1934 [13]
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(Above) Mon, Nov 19, 1934 [14]
(Below) Thu, Mar 05, 1936 [15]
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