Thread: Ky. Dam before it was a dam

photo not found

Seems I may have moved those photos in my Photobucket account and broke the link to them ...

I will get them reposted ...

Rickie

Originally Posted by Christian Greco

Ijust want to be clear about something I believe you mistakenly implied here. You are aware that while Birmingham was indeed flooded, Gilbertsville never was, correct? The actual, historical site of Old Gilbertsville has never been underwater. The site of Old Gilbertsville School is not under the lake, either. This is a common mistake among folks who simply lump the demise of Gilbertsville together with the watery fates of the other towns in the 1940s and 1960s. In fact, Gilbertsville was the only major town to be relocated that was never in danger of submersion. You can visit the very site of Old Gilbertsville today, on foot.

I hope this clarifies any misconceptions you may have about your family history.

No misconception here ...

Originally Posted by rnvinc

He has told me stories of walking to Gilbertsville school every day across "the bottom peanut patch" which is now the bottom of Ky Dam Marina..

My apologies if anyone misinterpreted my OP above to think any part of "Old Gilbertsville" was flooded after the construction of Ky Dam ...

My intent was to indicate that "the bottom peanut patch" is now under water where Ky Dam Marina now is ...not the Old Gilbertsville school ...nor the town of Old Gilbertsville ...

Rickie

Here is a re-post of the OP with the pictures ...:

I found these pics in my dad's collection...He was born (1930) and raised at Gobbler's Knob which use to be located just up on the hill on the south side of what is now Ky. Dam Marina....

He has told me stories of walking to Gilbertsville school every day across "the bottom peanut patch" which is now the bottom of Ky Dam Marina...

All of these pics are in (I think) 1938....which is 1 year after the "big flood of '37" and right before TVA started construction of KY. Dam....

Ky Dam site from the north looking south.....notice "27 mile island" that starts just south of the RR bridge and farther south you can make out "3 mile island"...these islands still show on present day topo maps of Ky. Lake...of course they are under water now....

Notice the town of "Old Gilbertsville" at bottom center of pic...this town was moved farther down HWY 282 toward Calvert City to allow for the construction of the dam....



Closer pic of Ky Dam site from the north looking south....notice the type of river barge access bridge on the west (right) side of the river was a "spin" type (I have no idea what the actual name is) where the first two sections of bridge spans were attached to an "axle" bridge support that spun 90 degrees to allow barge access thru the brigde...I was told that this section was moved somewhere south and used in some other location for years....



This pic must be right at the start of dam construction because it shows the coffer dam just south of the RR bridge that was built at the section of river that went around the east side of "27 mile island"



Ky Dam site from south looking north...



This is the aerial view of "Old Gilbertsville" which was moved farther west down HWY 282 during the dam construction....



This is a downtown pic of "Old Gilbertsville" ....notice the sign on the side of the brick building in the right hand side of pic..."Overalls...R.D. Smith Gilbertsville KY.....



This is the RR trestle in the bottom right of the aerial photo of "Old Gilbertsville" that led up to the RR bridge that crossed the Tennessee River..



If anyone has more pics relating to this era before Ky. Dam was built please add to this post...I"m really interested in finding aerial photos of the Marshall Co. town of "Old Birmingham" that was just south of "3 mile island"....

Rickie

Thx for the repost.

Here are some other odds and ends pix I've gathered in my collection since the OP in 2009 ...

Jonathon Creek bridge on Hwy 68 East before flooding Ky Lake ...



Construction of gates 15-24 ...



Star Quarry (at now Pisgah Bay) ... They built a railroad from Star Quarry north to the dam site for supplying rock for the concrete plant built at the dam site ...



Random piling construction ...



Generator intakes above the dam (we still fish these from the bank in present day = great white bass fishing) ...



A couple of gates ...



The earthen levy west of the dam during rip rapping ...



Spur railroad ...



Boat basin marina north of dam site ...



Canal construction looking East (you can see what is now Barkley Lake at the very top of the picture) ...



Random ...



Rickie

Here's a few diagrams I've been able to collect ...















Rickie

This is awesome stuff right here! Thanks Ricky!!!!

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