Tennessee Valley Authority in Alabama

The Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) was created by Congress on May 18, 1933 and is one of a handful of New Deal federal agencies still operating [1]. Its mandate covered navigation, flood control, electricity, reforestation and development of the valley. Before TVA, only 3 percent of valley farms had electricity and per capita income was half the national average. See Tennessee Valley.

Muscle Shoals

Government engineers chose Muscle Shoals as the site for World War I nitrate plants, but the war ended before they began production. Congress debated the $130 million complex for about 15 years, and Henry Ford sought to buy it. TVA later produced phosphate fertilizers there, and more than 60 percent of the phosphorus used in World War II munitions came from Muscle Shoals [1].

Dams and navigation

Wilson Dam was built 1918 to 1925 and acquired by TVA in 1933, Wheeler Dam was built 1933 to 1936 in Lauderdale County, and Guntersville Dam was completed in 1939. By 1939 a six-foot channel ran from Paducah, Kentucky to Chattanooga, and river traffic had more than tripled since 1933. TVA reservoirs provide over one million acre-feet of flood storage in Alabama [1]. See Wilson Dam.

Electric power

Alabama farms with electricity rose from 1 in 30 in 1934 to 1 in 7 in 1939. The three dams initially generated 487,300 kilowatts. In July 1940 TVA bought Alabama Power properties in north Alabama for $4.2 million. Coal surpassed hydroelectric power by 1955, and Browns Ferry near Athens became the first nuclear plant in 1974 [1].

Origins and Muscle Shoals

Congress created the Tennessee Valley Authority on May 18, 1933; it is the nation’s largest public power company and is headquartered in Knoxville. Muscle Shoals began as a World War I nitrate project powered by Wilson Dam, but the war ended before it produced anything, and TVA later used the site for fertilizer and, in World War II, phosphorus for munitions.[2]

Dams and power plants

Wilson Dam was built from 1918 to 1925 by the War Department and acquired by TVA in 1933. Wheeler Dam (1933-1936) in Lauderdale County was the first main-river dam in the TVA system, and Guntersville Dam (1939) in Marshall County completed main-river construction on the Alabama stretch of the Tennessee River. TVA operates three hydroelectric dams, two coal plants including Widows Creek and Colbert, a combustion turbine site and one nuclear plant in Alabama. Browns Ferry near Athens was completed in 1974, and its Unit 1 restart in 2007 was the first U.S. reactor to come online in more than a decade.[2]

Flood control, navigation and economy

TVA reservoirs provide over one million acre-feet of controlled flood storage in Alabama. Six locks serve 60 ports and terminals moving about 15 million tons of cargo a year. In 1934 only 1 in 30 Alabama farms had electricity; by 1939 it was 1 in 7. TVA employs nearly 2,800 people in the state and serves 16 north Alabama counties covering 8,360 square miles and 461,000 households.[2]

FAQs

When was TVA created? May 18, 1933.

Which dams are in Alabama? Wilson, Wheeler and Guntersville.

Sources

1. Encyclopedia of Alabama: Tennessee Valley Authority in Alabama (TVA)
2. Encyclopedia of Alabama: Tennessee Valley Authority in Alabama

Editorially reviewed by Specialty Digest Editorial TeamLast reviewed November 10, 2026Researched and drafted with AI assistanceReport an issue