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1981 Map of Watts Bar Lake

Name: 1981 Topographic Map of Watts Bar Lake
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1984
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1984

About this map

Watts Bar Lake and the winding Tennessee River dominate this 1980s landscape, illustrating the profound impact of the Tennessee Valley Authority on the region's topography. The map details the complex shoreline created by the impoundment of Fort Loudoun Lake, Tellico Lake, and Chickamauga Lake, which reshaped the valleys between the Cumberland Escarpment and the Great Smoky Mountains foothills.

Industrial and governmental footprints are prominent, notably the extensive U S Department of Energy (Oak Ridge Area) and the busy transportation corridors of Interstate 40 and Interstate 75. Long-standing mountain communities like Cumberland Homesteads and Crab Orchard sit atop the Crab Orchard Mountains, while river towns such as Kingston and Loudon serve as historical nodes where the Clinch and Little Tennessee rivers meet the main stem. The network of the Southern Railway and Louisville & Nashville RR further traces the industrial development of the East Tennessee valley.