Jerry Summers
Boaters headed towards the Tennessee River Gorge aka “Grand Canyon of Tennessee” from Chattanooga to enjoy the fall foliage will have to pass through Suck Creek and will have little or no difficulty navigating through the historical area known as “The Suck.”
That was not always the case prior to the erection of the Hales Bar Dam by the Tennessee River Power Company (TEPCO) headed by Chattanooga engineer Joseph Conn Guild, and the Chickamauga Dam up the Tennessee River in the late 1930’s and 1940’s.
Hales Bar Dam construction started in 1905 and two nearby towns of Guild (now known as Haletown) and Ladds were built to house the thousands of workers that were needed to build the dam.
On November 1, 1913, the dam was completed at a cost of $237,000,000 in todays value but had a checkered past with leaks and deaths of workers and private citizens.
After the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) was passed in 1933 litigation occurred as to the constitutionality of the law which gave TVA the right to buy the assets of Hales Bar Dam for $78,000,000. The location of “the Suck” southwest of Chattanooga consisted of strong currents and whirlpools that were hazards and dangerous to any boats trying to transverse the area.
Just before the start of the Civil War and through 1886 steamboats were a popular mode of transportation on the Tennessee River. Because the water level at “the Suck” was so low that the riverboats drafted too deep to get through the area it became necessary to dredge out where Suck Creek flowed into the river. Even after the dredging to make the river deeper the steamboats still had difficulty navigating this area when it rained heavy because Suck Creek would spill large amounts of water into the river that caused a suction which made it very difficulty for the steamboats to get through.
Several dangerous spots soon acquired colorful names by the local inhabitants such as Tumbling Shoals, the Pot, the Skillet, and the Pan and each became difficult for rivermen to avoid the downstream journey hazards and also restricted upstream travel. The idea of building human winches on the shorelines to go to the bow of the steamboats was developed in order for slaves to turn the giant wooden winches in order to pull the large boats through “the Suck.”
With the erecting of the Hales Bar Dam water levels in Chattanooga rose permanently and today the area is relatively quiet compared to older times but some whirls still exist. In 1964 construction began on Nickajack Dam, six miles downstream from Hales Bar Dam and was completed in 1967 at a cost of $73,000,000 and Hales Bar was taken out of service and the dam portion was removed.
* * *
Jerry Summers
(If you have additional information about one of Mr. Summers' articles or have suggestions or ideas about a future Chattanooga area historical piece, please contact Mr. Summers at jsummers@summersfirm.com
The Suck