Watauga Dam

Wilbur Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the Watauga River in Carter County, in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is one of two dams on the river owned and operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority. The dam impounds Wilbur Lake, which extends for about 3 miles (4.8 km) up the Watauga to the base of Watauga Dam. Wilbur Dam was completed in 1912 making it the second oldest dam in the TVA system behind Ocoee Dam No. 1. Wilbur Dam was one of the first major hydroelectric projects in Tennessee, and remains one of the oldest dams in the TVA system.Wilbur Dam is a concrete gravity overflow dam 77 feet (23 m) high and 375 feet (114 m) long, and has a generating capacity of 10,700 kilowatts. The dam's spillway has four radial gates with a combined discharge of 34,000 cubic feet per second (960 m3/s). The dam is located at just over 34 miles (55 km) above the mouth of the Watauga, a few miles upstream from Elizabethton, Tennessee. In 1907, the Doe River Light & Power Company began purchasing land rights for construction of Wilbur Dam, although the company struggled with finances and sold the project to the Watauga Power Company in 1910. Watauga Power completed the dam in just two years, and found a ready market for the dam's electricity at nearby Elizabethton. In 1927, the dam was purchased by the Tennessee Central Service Company, which changed its name to East Tennessee Light & Power Company two years later. The flood of August 1940 overtopped the dam and destroyed its powerhouse, and five years later, East Tennessee Light & Power sold its assets, including Wilbur Dam, to the Tennessee Valley Authority.Wilbur Dam was originally equipped with a flashboard-controlled spillway (similar to nearby Nolichucky Dam). In 1947, TVA outfitted the dam with a new gate-controlled spillway and raised it 5 feet (1.5 m) to accommodate the tailwaters of Watauga Dam, which was then nearing completion.

Carter County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, the population was 56,356. Its county seat is Elizabethton. The county is named in honor of Landon Carter (1760-1800), an early settler active in the "Lost State of Franklin" 1784-1788 secession from the State of North Carolina. Carter County is part of the Johnson City, TN Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is a component of the Johnson City–Kingsport–Bristol, TN-VA Combined Statistical Area, located in northeastern Tennessee.

Designated by the United States Congress in 1986, the Big Laurel Branch Wilderness is a 6,332-acre (26 km2) wilderness area within Carter County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. The area's elevation is 3,623 feet (1,104 m) above sea level.

Hampton is an unincorporated community and Census-designated place in Carter County, Tennessee, United States. Located a few miles southeast of Elizabethton and northwest of Roan Mountain, Hampton is surrounded on all sides by the Unaka Mountains. It is part of the Johnson City Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is a component of the Johnson City–Kingsport–Bristol, TN-VA Combined Statistical Area – commonly known as the "Tri-Cities" region. The population of the CDP in 2020 was 2,030.

Hunter (also called Stoney Creek) is a census-designated place (CDP) and unincorporated community located northeast of Elizabethton in Carter County, Tennessee, along Tennessee State Route 91 and the Watauga River. Its population was 1,854 as of the 2010 census. It is part of the Johnson City Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is a component of the Johnson City-Kingsport-Bristol, TN-VA Combined Statistical Area – commonly known as the "Tri-Cities" region. Hunter is a suburb of Elizabethton.

Fish Springs is an unincorporated community in Carter County, Tennessee. Fish Springs is located on the south shore of Watauga Lake, along US Route 321 and Tennessee State Route 67 east of Hampton.

The Simerly-Butler House, also known as, the Butler Mansion, is a historic mansion in Hampton, Tennessee, USA.

Unaka High School is a public high school located northeast of Elizabethton, Tennessee in the Hunter community.

Elizabethton Municipal Airport (FAA LID: 0A9) is three miles east of Elizabethton, in Carter County, Tennessee. The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015 categorized it as a general aviation airport.

Hampton High School is a high school in Hampton, Tennessee.

Valley Forge is an unincorporated community in Carter County, Tennessee. Located along US Route 19E/321 and SR-67, south of Elizabethton and north of Hampton.

Watauga Lake, located east of Elizabethton, Tennessee, is the local name of the Watauga Reservoir created by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) with the 1948 completion of the TVA Watauga Dam.The Cherokee National Forest surrounds both the Tennessee Valley Authority Watauga Reservoir and Wilbur Reservoir in an area of northeast Tennessee that TVA describes as being located "in some of the most beautiful country in the Tennessee River watershed".