Center Hill Dam / Center Hill Powerhouse

Center Hill Dam: Designed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and built by private contractors, Center Hill Dam, 240 feet high and 2,160 feet long, impounds 64 miles of the Caney Fork River. Congress authorized the dam in 1938 to reduce flood damage in the Cumberland, Ohio, and Mississippi River valleys. Construction began in 1942, but was suspended in 1943 due to World War II. Work resumed in 1946, the same year that Congress authorized recreational use of the reservoir. Center Hill Dam was completed in 1951. Center Hill Powerhouse: Beginning in 1951 three hydropower turbine-generator units generated electricity. Water surges 160 feet from an intake on the reservoir to the units in the powerhouse. the generated power is transferred to the switchyard to distribute the electricity for public use. Collectively, the units have a capacity of 135,000 kilowatts, sufficient to provide electricity to a city of 125,000 people. The powerhouse's Art Deco-Art Moderne architecture is typical of the period 1942-1952, when the powerhouse was under construction.