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1959 Map of Boone Dam

Name: 1959 Topographic Map of Boone Dam
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1960
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1960

About this map

The South Fork Holston River defines this landscape in the late 1950s, dramatically transformed by the infrastructure of the Tennessee Valley Authority. The map centers on the massive Boone Dam, which impounds the waters of Boone Lake and Watauga Lake at the confluence of the Watauga River. This engineered environment sits alongside established communities like Gray and Colonial Heights, while newer residential footprints such as the Baker Bluff Subdivision and Smith Shoals Subdivision suggest post-war suburban growth.

Transportation and recreation are central to the area's character, anchored by the Tri-City Airport (Mc Kellar Field) and the sprawling Warriors Path State Park. Local history is preserved in dozens of family-named landmarks, from the Free Hill Tunnel on the Clinchfield railroad to numerous rural sanctuaries like Buffalo Ridge Ch and Hales Chapel. The map captures a moment when traditional East Tennessee ridge-and-valley life met the large-scale industrial and recreational changes of the mid-20th century.