The Cheoah Dam is a hydroelectric complex located in Graham and Swain counties. The Cheoah Development consists of a dam and powerhouse, the first of several constructed by the Tallassee Power Company, now owned by Brookfield Smoky Mountain Hydropower. The Cheoah project began in 1916 where the Little Tennessee River flowed through a narrow gorge, was completed in 1919 and is the oldest dam on the Little Tennessee River.
Cheoah Dam, at 1,276.8 feet above sea level, forms Cheoah Reservoir, which covers 644 acres of normal pool and drains 1,608 square miles. A scenic highway runs the length of the reservoir.
The water inflow for Cheoah is primarily dependent on releases from TVA’s Fontana Dam, the primary flow-control facility for the lower Little Tennessee.
When completed, the 225-foot 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 — 5,010 feet across the river below Cheoah Dam. The dam and associated structures were listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004. Surrounded by the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and Nantahala National Forest, Cheoah’s shoreline remains undeveloped and pristine.
Cheoah Dam was made famous in the movie “The Fugitive”, in which Harrison Ford’s character, Dr. Richard Kimble, jumped from the top of the dam to avoid capture. Today, the dam is referred to as the “Fugitive Dam”.
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