AA-2026-C51850
On the image
Somewhere along the Tennessee River in the 1950s, a tourist stopped on a bridge walkway to photograph what the Tennessee Valley Authority had built, which was a reasonable impulse given that the TVA's network of dams was at the time the most ambitious federal engineering program in American history and people wanted proof they had seen it. The long concrete weir stretching across the frame, with its evenly spaced tainter gates and the powerhouse structure visible at the far end, represents the particular mid-century conviction that if a river was moving, it was being wasted. High-tension transmission towers already march away from the structure in both directions, carrying the electricity that had electrified rural homes across the region within the previous decade, a fact that would have meant something very specific to anyone who grew up in those hollows before the TVA arrived. A construction crane is still visible on the left bank, suggesting the facility was either newly completed or being extended, the New Deal infrastructure program still building out its mandate well into the Eisenhower years. The wire-mesh bridge railing in the foreground is the kind of detail that places this firmly in a moment when the public was actively encouraged to come and look at these structures, because a dam you could visit was also a dam that justified the appropriation.
Visually related — by likeness
TVA Hydroelectric Dam and Tainter Gates, Tennessee River, 1950s. 1950–1959. Archive & Atlas, Historical Image Library, AA-2026-C51850. https://thearchive.archiveandatlas.com/library/tva-hydroelectric-dam-and-tainter-gates-tennessee-river-1950s.
@misc{aaAA2026C51850,
title = {TVA Hydroelectric Dam and Tainter Gates, Tennessee River, 1950s},
year = {1950–1959},
howpublished = {Archive \& Atlas, Historical Image Library},
note = {Accession AA-2026-C51850},
url = {https://thearchive.archiveandatlas.com/library/tva-hydroelectric-dam-and-tainter-gates-tennessee-river-1950s}
}TY - ART TI - TVA Hydroelectric Dam and Tainter Gates, Tennessee River, 1950s PY - 1950–1959 PB - Archive & Atlas, Historical Image Library AN - AA-2026-C51850 UR - https://thearchive.archiveandatlas.com/library/tva-hydroelectric-dam-and-tainter-gates-tennessee-river-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.