How many tva dams were located in tennessee

In addition, they argued that most farmers were too poor to afford electricity. Rural electrification was based on the belief that affordable electricity would improve the standard of living and the economic competitiveness of the family farm. The Roosevelt Administration believed that if private enterprise could not supply electric power to the people, then it was the duty of the government to do it.

That led to strong opposition from power companies, who were angered by the cheaper energy available through TVA, and saw it as a threat to private development. During the s, numerous court challenges were brought against the TVA. In the end, the Supreme Court ruled that the TVA had the authority to generate power, to sell the electricity, and to distribute that electricity.

The EHFA made arrangements with appliance makers to supply electric ranges, refrigerators and water heaters at affordable prices, which were then sold at local power companies and electric cooperatives. A farmer could purchase appliances there with loans offered by the EHFA, which offered low-cost financing. New Farming methods Farming practices in the Tennessee Valley, like those in other farming communities, attempted to pull as much productivity as possible out of fragile lands. Results were often destructive.

Hillsides and valleys were plowed and planted, resulting in the loss of valuable topsoil. Such crops as corn, tobacco and cotton left the topsoil exposed during the winter months, which contributed to land erosion.

The TVA developed programs to teach farmers how to improve crop yields, replant forests, and improve habitat for fish and wildlife. The TVA worked to change old farming practices, and taught farmers to substitute nitrates with such plants as alfalfa and clover that naturally add nitrogen to the soil.

TVA extension programs introduced contour plowing, crop rotation, the use of phosphate fertilizers, and the planting of cover crops for soil conservation. TVA set up demonstration farms to teach farmers about new techniques and farm products. Seventeen thousand miles of transmission lines deliver power through locally owned distributors to 8.

The TVA has become a major recreation provider as well. About Quizzes. TVA acquired the government facilities at Muscle Shoals and began producing phosphate fertilizers at the former nitrate production facilities. Partnering with state land-grant institutions, including Auburn University and the University of Tennessee, TVA transformed valley agriculture, reduced soil erosion, increased crop yields, and advanced agricultural diversification.

From until the s, TVA operated a comprehensive fertilizer research and development program at Muscle Shoals, the Agricultural Resource Development Program, which was expanded to improve agriculture throughout the nation. TVA conducted demonstrations to introduce new and improved TVA fertilizers and agricultural practices on about 90, farms throughout the nation as well as Puerto Rico.

Constructed in Colbert County between and by the U. War Department, Wilson Dam was important to another element of TVA's mission: creating and maintaining a navigable river channel. By , the agency had adopted a plan for the unified development of the Tennessee River through a system of nine main-river locks and dams that would provide navigation and flood control. Wheeler Dam , constructed between and in Lauderdale County , was the first main-river dam and reservoir built. By , when the agency completed Guntersville Dam, a six-foot deep channel was available from Paducah, Kentucky, to Chattanooga, Tennessee.

River traffic, consisting of barges hauling grain and forest and petroleum products, had increased more than three-fold between and By , the Tennessee River was fully navigable from Paducah to Knoxville, Tennessee, at the full navigable depth of nine feet.

Flood control was another TVA priority. The dams also supported the congressional mandate to promote the use of electricity on farms and in rural areas. In , only 1 in 30 Alabama farms had electricity; by this number had increased to 1 in 7.

At the time of their initial service, the Wilson, Wheeler, and Guntersville dams generated a total of , kilowatts, a little more than half of TVA's total generation capacity. The establishment of electric cooperatives by the people in the area, the development of low-cost rural lines, and financing provided by the Rural Electrification Administration were other important factors contributing to the growth of rural electrification.

The agency immediately became an important resource in the war effort, but to provide additional electric power for war industries, it undertook one of the largest construction programs ever in the United States.

At war's end, the TVA system was producing nearly 12 billion kilowatt hours of electricity annually, with 8 billion kilowatts devoted to war-related industries. TVA used the Muscle Shoals facilities once again for defense industries. More than 60 percent of the phosphorus required for a wide variety of bombs, shells, bullets, and other munitions was produced at Muscle Shoals.

TVA also delivered nearly 30, tons of anhydrous ammonia, 10, tons of ammonium nitrate liquor, and 64, tons of ammonium nitrate crystal to the U. Ordnance Department. The agency produced more than , tons of calcium carbide used to manufacture synthetic rubber, employing rehabilitated equipment from World War I. The TVA Muscle Shoals facilities also manufactured temporary housing and trained military officials for malaria control. In addition, TVA's system of locks and channels enabled federal ship-building efforts to construct ocean-going vessels such as Liberty cargo ships and patrol torpedo boats at inland shipyards as far north as Decatur.

After the war, the agency continued to contribute to Alabama's economy and prosperity. In , it transferred 4, acres of land to the state for Little Mountain State Park on Guntersville Reservoir and in transferred 1, acres for the creation of Joe Wheeler State Park. The agency charged an average of 1.

From to , manufacturing employment in the region grew from , jobs to , In roughly the same period, income received by individuals from manufacturing in the Tennessee Valley region increased by percent compared with the national average of percent. Subscribe for fascinating stories connecting the past to the present. Roosevelt that aimed to restore prosperity to Americans. When Roosevelt took office in , he acted swiftly to stabilize the economy and provide jobs and relief The Great Depression was the worst economic downturn in the history of the industrialized world, lasting from to It began after the stock market crash of October , which sent Wall Street into a panic and wiped out millions of investors.

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After the stock market crash of , anxious people withdrew their Over its eight years of existence, the WPA put roughly 8. In the early 20th century, the U. Bureau of Reclamation devised plans for a massive dam on the Arizona-Nevada border to tame the Colorado River and provide water and hydroelectric power for the developing Southwest. Construction within the strict timeframe proved an immense The Civilian Conservation Corps CCC was a work relief program that gave millions of young men employment on environmental projects during the Great Depression.

The s in the United States began with an historic low: more than 15 million Americans—fully one-quarter of all wage-earning workers—were unemployed. President Herbert Hoover did not do much to alleviate the crisis: Patience and self-reliance, he argued, were all Americans During the Great Depression, which began in and lasted approximately a decade, shantytowns appeared across the U.

As the Depression worsened in the s, causing severe hardships for millions of Americans, many looked The Glass-Steagall Act, part of the Banking Act of , was landmark banking legislation that separated Wall Street from Main Street by offering protection to people who entrust their savings to commercial banks. Millions of Americans lost their jobs in the Great Depression, Live TV. This Day In History. History Vault.

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