| Fort Patrick Henry Dam | |
|---|---|
 Fort Patrick Henry Dam | |
| Official name | Fort Patrick Henry Dam |
| Location | Kingsport, Tennessee, United States |
| Coordinates | 36°29′52″N 82°30′30″W / 36.49778°N 82.50833°W |
| Construction began | May 14, 1951 |
| Opening date | October 27, 1953 |
| Operator(s) | Tennessee Valley Authority |
| Dam and spillways | |
| Impounds | South Fork Holston River |
| Height | 95 feet (29 m) |
| Length | 737 feet (225 m) |
| Reservoir | |
| Creates | Fort Patrick Henry Lake |
Fort Patrick Henry Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the South Fork Holston River within the city of Kingsport, in Sullivan County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the lowermost of three dams on the South Fork Holston owned and operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority, 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, South Holston Dam, and Boone Dam (which were primarily flood control structures) further upstream in preceding years. The dam impounds the 872-acre (353 ha) Fort Patrick Henry Lake.[1] 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.[2] The dam and associated infrastructure were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2017.
Fort Patrick Henry Dam is named for a Revolutionary War-era fort once located at nearby Long Island of the Holston.[2][3]
- ^ 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.
- ^ a b 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.