We'd seen signs to the lake on the way to and from Atlanta, and wanted to see what it looked like.
The lake is gorgeous, especially on this bright sunny winter day, especially since it's protected from development. But even more spectacular:
The dam is a huge fill dam with one channel cut through the mountain to generate electricity.
Below the lake, a second lake was created to hold water to pump back up into the high lake for more generation power.
This is the very edge of the last of the Blue Ridge. Down there in the valley, Sherman's army marched and now I-75 from Atlanta to Chattanooga.
About 15 miles to the west, the Cherokee town of New Echota was built as the last capital of the Cherokee. It made it easy, I guess, to move them out through Chattanooga's Ross's Landing along the Trail of Tears. I'd read about New Echota and never saw a good explanation before of where it was. Turns out there is a state historical site there.
New Echota was at the end of the Coosawattee River, which formed this lake. A historic marker here says there was a Cherokee town called 'Coosa' near here, too, where DeSoto and his men camped on their trip north and west. (Historical signs marking DeSoto's path are along the highway near where we live in western Cherokee County, NC. Did they follow this river up the mountains and then the Nottley to the Hiwassee?)
2 comments:
Welcome to my area! It is good to see the lake so full, we were over there in the fall checking out campsites and it was down quite a bit. It usually stays full (unlike most lakes in this area) because of the recirculation pond below the dam. I grew up in Blue Ridge in the 60s and 70s and I remember my dad bringing us down to see the construction on Carter's dam, it was very impressive to see before the water filled up the lake.
Susan, It would be great if you had some photos of the area before the dam was built.
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