Dale Hollow Dam & Lake Officially Completed 80 Years Ago This Fall

80 years ago this month, construction completed on the Dale Hollow Dam and Lake, the oldest man-made lake in the state.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers completed the dam in the fall of 1943 to help control floods. Overton County Heritage Museum Director Paula Stover said the lake took over Willow Grove, a bustling town with popular businesses, service stations, and even a high school.

“They had surveyors and engineers that surveyed everywhere,” Stover said. “And that was just the spot that they found that was perfect for that so that was the first one. They just have to find the right location where it can be dammed up.”

Stover said though the families at Willow Grove were paid for their property, they were given no choice as to whether they had to relocate.

“These families along with many others along the river were displaced and were mostly forced to sell their land and move away from their established homes,” Stover said. “Their cemeteries were relocated to higher ground, churches, homes, barns, businesses, they were all just slowly swallowed up by the lake. “A lot of these families had lived there for generations so this was a sad time for them.”

Stover said at least one Willow Grove family’s descendants believe they were not paid enough, considering the land’s literal and personal value.

Power generating units were added in 1948, 1949, and 1953. Stover said after hydraulic power units were added, Dale Hallow supplied vast amounts of power to both Kentucky and Tennessee.