AA-2026-5BD534
On the image
Somewhere in the eastern United States in the 1950s, a concrete gravity dam is doing exactly what the Army Corps of Engineers said it would do, and the high-tension transmission towers on the ridge behind it confirm that somebody upstream made good on the promise. The decade was the high-water mark of American hydraulic confidence — the idea that any river left to its own devices was wasted potential, and that the correct response to a valley was to fill it.
The spillway is running hard, water sheeting down the face in a dozen parallel curtains while the powerhouse crouches at the base receiving its cut. The scene has the functional grandeur of a project that nobody on the planning committee ever described as beautiful, yet which everyone who drove out to see it agreed was impressive in a way that justified the Sunday trip.
The high-line towers marching away over the tree-covered ridge are the whole point, of course — the dam is just the means of getting electricity to somewhere that needed it, which in postwar Appalachia was essentially everywhere. The river below the spillway is white and turbulent and completely unable to argue back.
Visually related — by likeness
Hydroelectric Dam Spillway in Full Release, Appalachian Region, 1950s. 1950–1959. Archive & Atlas, Historical Image Library, AA-2026-5BD534. https://thearchive.archiveandatlas.com/library/hydroelectric-dam-spillway-in-full-release-appalachian-region-1950s.
@misc{aaAA20265BD534,
title = {Hydroelectric Dam Spillway in Full Release, Appalachian Region, 1950s},
year = {1950–1959},
howpublished = {Archive \& Atlas, Historical Image Library},
note = {Accession AA-2026-5BD534},
url = {https://thearchive.archiveandatlas.com/library/hydroelectric-dam-spillway-in-full-release-appalachian-region-1950s}
}TY - ART TI - Hydroelectric Dam Spillway in Full Release, Appalachian Region, 1950s PY - 1950–1959 PB - Archive & Atlas, Historical Image Library AN - AA-2026-5BD534 UR - https://thearchive.archiveandatlas.com/library/hydroelectric-dam-spillway-in-full-release-appalachian-region-1950s ER -
From the community
Identifications, corrections, and discussion from readers — reviewed by a librarian before appearing here.
Sign in to add an identification, correction, or comment.
No notes yet — be the first to add what you know about this image.