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The Fontana Dam, rising high above the Little Tennessee River in western North Carolina, is the tallest dam in the Eastern United States. It was a long and winding road to build the dam, and what was lost during the journey can be seen in the “Road to Nowhere.”
Fontana Dam was built in 1941, on land given over to the Tennessee Valley Authority by the Aluminum Company of America, or ALCOA. Entering World War II meant a huge spike in the demand for aluminum for aircraft, ships and munitions, so a deal was struck for the TVA to build the dam with ALCOA as the primary consumer. With a ready-made customer in the War Department, the aluminum company stood to benefit from all that hydroelectric power coming in.
Who didn’t benefit were the flooded-out communities along the banks of the rising water.
Where there had previously been small towns, villages and homesteads along the north side of the river, there was now Fontana Lake, and people who lived and worked there were either bought out or moved off.
Part of the dam deal, to assuage those being displaced, was to build a road from Bryson City to Deals Gap along a route north of the river. It was intended to not only allow people to make the journey but to provide ongoing access to their ancestral lands and cemeteries. The road was to be cut through the newly created Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
The people were moved, the water rose, and by the 1970s—30 years after the original agreement was made—only a small portion of the road was built. This small section, still there today, is about seven miles long and ends abruptly at a quarter-mile tunnel in the middle of the park, in the middle of nowhere. With no road, a consolation prize of $58 million was agreed to be paid to Swain County.
As of today only $12 million has been paid, and the county has filed a lawsuit for the remainder of the promised money. It’s no wonder one landowner has maintained his now-iconic sign:
“Welcome to the Road to Nowhere – A broken Promise! 1943 - ? →”
Submitted by Atlas Obscura contributor ashleeweeks.
For more on the Road to Nowhere, visit Atlas Obscura!
More wonders to explore:
- The Race of Gentlemen: Vintage cars and motorcycles race for glory in a throwback motorsport celebration on the Jersey shore.
- One of the largest mechanical models of the solar system in the world.
- This North Carolina airfield is home to a number of retired vintage planes in various states of disrepair.
