Fort Patrick Henry Dam is a

hydroelectric dam Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined an ...

on the

South Fork Holston River The Holston River is a river that flows from Kingsport, Tennessee, to Knoxville, Tennessee. Along with its three major forks (North Fork, Middle Fork and South Fork), it comprises a major river system that drains much of northeastern Tennessee, ...

within the city of

Kingsport Kingsport is a city in Sullivan and Hawkins counties in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, its population was 55,442. Lying along the Holston River, Kingsport is commonly included in what is known as the Mountain Empire ...

, in Sullivan County in the U.S. state of

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to ...

. It is the lowermost of three dams on the South Fork Holston owned and operated by the

Tennessee Valley Authority The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is a federally owned electric utility corporation in the United States. TVA's service area covers all of Tennessee, portions of Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, and small areas of Georgia, North Carolina ...

, which built the dam in the early 1950s to take advantage of the hydroelectric potential created by the regulation of river flow with the completion of

Watauga Dam Watauga Dam is a hydroelectric and flood control dam on the Watauga River in Carter County, in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is owned and operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority, which built the dam in the 1940s as part of efforts to con ...

South Holston Dam South Holston Dam is a hydroelectric and flood control dam on the South Fork Holston River in Sullivan County, in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the uppermost of three dams on the South Fork Holston owned and operated by the Tennessee Val ...

, and Boone Dam (which were primarily

flood control Flood control methods are used to reduce or prevent the detrimental effects of flood waters."Flood Control", MSN Encarta, 2008 (see below: Further reading). Flood relief methods are used to reduce the effects of flood waters or high water level ...

structures) further upstream in preceding years. The dam impounds the Fort Patrick Henry Lake.Tennessee Valley Authority, ''The Upper Holston Projects: Watauga, South Holston, Boone, and Fort Patrick Henry; a Comprehensive Report on the Planning, Design, Construction, Initial Operations, and Costs of Four Hydro Projects in the Holston Basin at the Eastern Tip of Tennessee'', Technical Report No. 14 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1958), pp. 1-6, 12, 18-23, 33, 73-74. While originally built for hydroelectric generation, the dam now plays an important role in the regulation of water flow and water temperature for the John Sevier Fossil Plant and other industrial plants downstream. The dam and associated infrastructure were listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artist ...

in 2017. Fort Patrick Henry Dam is named for a Revolutionary War-era fort once located at nearby Long Island of the Holston.Tennessee Valley Authority
Fort Patrick Henry Reservoir
Retrieved: 3 February 2009.Benjamin Nance
Fort Patrick Henry
''Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture'', 2002. Retrieved: 3 February 2009.

Location

Fort Patrick Henry Dam is located above the South Fork Holston River's confluence with the

North Fork Holston River The Holston River is a river that flows from Kingsport, Tennessee, to Knoxville, Tennessee. Along with its three major forks (North Fork, Middle Fork and South Fork), it comprises a major river system that drains much of northeastern Tennessee, ...

(which forms the

Holston River The Holston River is a river that flows from Kingsport, Tennessee, to Knoxville, Tennessee. Along with its three major forks (North Fork, Middle Fork and South Fork), it comprises a major river system that drains much of northeastern Tennessee, ...

proper). The city center of

is just northwest of the dam, and the unincorporated community of Colonial Heights is also nearby. Warriors' Path State Park occupies part of Fort Patrick Henry Lake's shoreline. Fort Patrick Henry Dam is upstream from the retention dam at

John Sevier Fossil Plant John Sevier Fossil Plant, commonly known as John Sevier Steam Plant, was a 0.88-gigawatt (880 MW) coal-fired power plant located in Hawkins County, Tennessee, south of Rogersville on the shore of the Holston River. It was operated by the Ten ...

and about upstream from Cherokee Dam, both of which are on the Holston River proper.

Capacity

Fort Patrick Henry Dam is a concrete gravity-type dam high and long, and has a generating capacity of 59,400 kilowatts. The dam's overfall spillway has five radial gates with a combined maximum discharge of .Tennessee Valley Authority, ''The Nickajack Project: A Report on the Planning, Design, Construction, Initial Operations'', and Costs, Technical Report No. 16 (Knoxville, Tenn.: Tennessee Valley Authority, 1972), pp. 10-11. Fort Patrick Henry Lake extends up the South Fork Holston to the base of Boone Dam and has of shoreline. The dam is not operated for flood-storage capacity.

Background and construction

Public and private entities were aware of the hydroelectric potential of the South Fork Holston River by the early 1900s, when the Watauga Power Company built

Wilbur Dam Wilbur Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the Watauga River in Carter County, in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is one of two dams on the river owned and operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority. The dam impounds Wilbur Lake, which extends for abo ...

(completed 1912) on the river's

Watauga River The Watauga River () is a large stream of western North Carolina and East Tennessee. It is long with its headwaters in Linville Gap to the South Fork Holston River at Boone Lake. Course The Watauga River rises from a spring near the bas ...

tributary. In the 1920s, the Holston River Power Company conducted a large-scale survey of the South Fork Holston with plans to build four dams along the river and market the dams' electrical power to nearby cities. Around the same time, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers proposed building a dam at the "Pactolus site", roughly a mile downstream from the present Fort Patrick Henry Dam site. When the Tennessee Valley Authority gained oversight of flood control operations in the area in the 1930s, they identified the present dam site (which they initially called the "Wexler Bend site") as more favorable. TVA's completion of

and

and the impending construction of Boone Dam in 1950 would regulate the river's flow in such a manner as to make a downriver hydroelectric project feasible. Work on Fort Patrick Henry Dam began on May 14, 1951. The construction of Fort Patrick Henry Dam and its reservoir required the purchase of of land, of which had to be cleared. 22 families and of roads had to be relocated, and one new bridge had to be built. The dam was completed and its gates closed October 27, 1953. The dam's first generator went online December 5, 1953 and its second generator went online February 22, 1954. The total cost of the Fort Patrick Henry project was $12.3 million.

References

External links

Fort Patrick Henry Reservoir
— official TVA site

— Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency {{Tennessee Valley Authority Facilities Holston River Dams in Tennessee Tennessee Valley Authority dams Kingsport, Tennessee Hydroelectric power plants in Tennessee Buildings and structures in Sullivan County, Tennessee Dams completed in 1953 Energy infrastructure completed in 1953 Dams on the National Register of Historic Places in Tennessee National Register of Historic Places in Sullivan County, Tennessee