Lake Allatoona - History

History

Allatoona Pass was the site of an intensive 8-hour battle during the Atlanta Campaign of the American Civil War in June 1864. More than 1500 Union and Confederate soldiers were killed, wounded or missing.

The lake was authorized by the Flood Control Acts of 1941 and 1946. The creekside town of Allatoona was destroyed by the creation of the lake. Several roads were also severed or rerouted, including Acworth Dallas Highway.

The general contractor for construction of Allatoona Dam was National Constructor Inc. The total cost of the Allatoona project for construction, land, clearing, and relocationwas $31,500,000 in 1950.

The record high water on Allatoona of 861.19 feet (262.49 m) occurred on April 9, 1964.

Visitors to Allatoona spent more than $12 million for consumable goods in 1999.

The Corps collected more than $1 million in camping and day use fees in 2006.

From 1950 through 2006, 281 drownings have occurred in Allatoona.

The power plant began operation January 31, 1950. Since 1957 the summer pool elevation has been 840 feet (256 m) AMSL. Since 1957 the winter draw-down has been 823 feet (251 m) AMSL. Two municipalities withdraw water from the lake. The city of Cartersville uses 12,000,000 US gallons per day (45,000 m3/d). Cobb County-Marietta Water Authority uses 43,000,000 US gallons per day (160,000 m3/d).

During the late 1980s there was a prolonged drought. The peak of the drought in 1986 exposed vast portions of the lake bed revealing tree stumps, roads, and foundations of houses (Wilson's farm). Grass grew in some places and children were seen to mow the grass and play baseball on the newfound vacant lots.

In 1998 Allatoona clocked 86,813,126 hours, which were more visitor hours than any of the other 450 Corps of Engineer projects in the United States, and exceeded that in 2006 with more than 92 million visitor hours.

• The presence of Allatoona Dam has prevented nearly $80 million in flood damages since 1950.