| South Holston Dam | |
|---|---|
 South Holston Dam | |
  Location of South Holston Dam in Tennessee | |
| Official name | South Holston Dam |
| Location | Sullivan County, Tennessee, United States |
| Coordinates | 36°31′24″N 82°5′20″W / 36.52333°N 82.08889°W |
| Construction began | February 16, 1942 |
| Opening date | November 20, 1950 |
| Operator(s) | Tennessee Valley Authority |
| Dam and spillways | |
| Impounds | South Fork Holston River |
| Height | 285 feet (87 m) |
| Length | 1,600 feet (490 m) |
| Reservoir | |
| Creates | South Holston Lake |
| Total capacity | 765,000 acre⋅ft (944,000 dam3)[1] |
| Power Station | |
| Commission date | 1950 |
| Turbines | 1 x 38.5 MW Francis-type |
| Installed capacity | 38.5 MW[2] |
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 Valley Authority, which built the dam in the 1940s as part of efforts to control flooding in the Tennessee River watershed. On October 21, 1950 the valve gate closed and water began backing up to create South Holston Reservoir. Work began on the dam in December 1941, but in November 1942, the War Production Board requested that the operation be suspended because of a shortage of critical materials. Work did not resume until July 1, 1947. The dam now impounds the South Holston Lake of 7,550 acres (3,060 ha), which extends northeastward across the Tennessee-Virginia state line.[3]
- ^ "South Holston Dam". National Performance of Dams Program, National Inventory of Dams. Stanford University. Retrieved 2012-10-10.
- ^ "Hydroelectric Plants in Tennessee". IndustCards. Retrieved 13 May 2014.
- ^ 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, 31, 52-55, 168.