Haletown, Tennessee

Haletown (also known as Guild) is an unincorporated community in Marion County, Tennessee, United States.[1] It is probably best known as the former location of Hales Bar Dam, a major hydroelectric project completed in 1913 by the former Tennessee Electric Power Company (TEPCO). The dam powerhouse, designed by John Bogart in the Classical Revival style, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2008.

Haletown, Tennessee
Unincorporated community
Haletown
Haletown, Tennessee
Haletown, Tennessee
Coordinates: 35°01′42″N 85°32′18″W
CountryUnited States
StateTennessee
CountyMarion
Elevation
640 ft (200 m)
Time zoneUTC-6 (Central (CST))
 • Summer (DST)UTC-5 (CDT)
ZIP code
37340
Area code(s)423
GNIS feature ID1639803[1]

The dam was purchased by the Tennessee Valley Authority in the 1930s, as it was established to have overall authority for flood control and power generation in the Tennessee Valley. It operated the dam into the 1960s, although it was not able to correct problems of leaks even after extensive renovations in the 1940s. The TVA replaced it with Nickajack Dam, built slightly downstream.

After that the TVA partially demolished the Hales Bar Dam. The powerhouse is now used as a private event space and is open for tours. A marina has also been developed there.

The Marion Memorial Bridge carries U.S. Highway 41, U.S. Highway 64, and U.S. Highway 72 over the Tennessee River at Haletown, but it has lost most of its traffic to the nearby Interstate 24 bridge. Tennessee State Route 134 connects the three U.S. Highways to I-24 at Haletown.[2]

The community is part of the Chattanooga, TN–GA Metropolitan Statistical Area.

The Guild post office, which opened on August 11, 1906, is now located in Haletown; its ZIP code is 37340.[3][4] Both Guild and Haletown were started as communities to house the thousands of workers who built the Hales Bar Dam project in the early 1900s. Guild was named for Josephus Conn Guild, Sr., a prominent engineer who led construction of the dam until his death in 1907.

Following TVA's renovations to the dam in the 1940s, workers moved on to other projects, and Guild became largely deserted. The post office was moved to Haletown.[5]

References
  1. "Haletown". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey.
  2. Marion County, Tennessee General Highway Map (PDF) (Map). Tennessee Department of Transportation. 2002. Retrieved December 17, 2012.
  3. United States Postal Service (2012). "USPS - Look Up a ZIP Code". Retrieved 2012-02-15.
  4. "Postmaster Finder - Post Offices by ZIP Code". United States Postal Service. Retrieved December 17, 2012.
  5. Paul Archambault, National Register of Historic Places inventory form for Hales Bar Dam Powerhouse, May 2008, Section 8, pp. 5-9.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.