Cheoah Dam

The Cheoah Dam is a hydroelectric dam located in Graham and Swain counties, North Carolina, on the Little Tennessee River between river miles 51 and 52. The Cheoah Development consists of a dam and powerhouse, the first of several constructed by the Tallassee Power Company (now Tapoco), a subsidiary of Aluminum Company of America (now Alcoa), in order to generate electricity to smelt aluminum in Alcoa, Tennessee.

The Cheoah project began in 1916 as a construction camp at the Narrows, where the Little Tennessee River flowed through a narrow gorge, and it was completed in 1919. Cheoah Dam created the long, narrow Cheoah Reservoir, which covers approximately 644 acres of the normal full pool area and a drainage area of 1608 mi2. The elevation of Cheoah Reservoir is 1276.8 ft (USGS). A scenic highway runs the length of the reservoir.

The water inflow for Cheoah, like that of Calderwood and Chilhowee, is primarily dependent on releases from TVA's Fontana Dam, the primary flow control facility for the lower Little Tennessee River. Tapoco operated the Cheoah Development until 2012, when it was sold to Brookfield Renewable Energy Partners, forming Brookfield Smoky Mountain Hydropower.

When completed in 1919, the 225 ft dam was the world's highest overflow dam. The turbines were the largest in the world, and the 150,000-volt transmission line had the highest voltage and the longest span for a transmission line—5010 ft across the river below Cheoah Dam. The dam and associated structures were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004.

The dam was used as a filming location for the 1993 movie The Fugitive, starring Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones.