Jerry Summers
Although the aforementioned Dam in Marion County has been razed except for the powerhouse, it has not been forgotten. The cable show dealing with the haunted Hales Bar locale in America has recently shown an episode tracing the eerie past of the remains and ranking in the sites of the greatest ghost locations.
I’ve never been one to buy into the sometimes falsification of facts to attract new viewers but I was pleasantly surprised to hear from one of my satisfied 120 loyal readers who relayed the life story of her Aunt Hazel, born in 1912 in the large metropolitan area of Guild Tennessee. The first part of the anonymous correspondence traces Hazel's arrival into the community in accordance with the highest standards of medical care by a renowned physician of the day on a cold March day at the construction side of the now haunted Hales Bar (dad was a tool and die maker on the pre-TVA site.) The local board certified OBGYN arrived at eight o'clock AM to bring the young lady into the world.
The skilled practitioner upholding the highest standards of the medical profession during that era, stated “I like to have rode my horse to death and then had to ride the ferry. You got a drink of whiskey? I'll have to charge $5 Anyhow.”
Luckily a graduate nurse from New York was visiting her son who happened to be the prospective Papa on the privately owned Chattanooga and Tennessee River Power Company project had already delivered the baby before the thirsty physician arrived.
The Hales Bar dam was finished in 1913, but it had continuous leaks because of the soft limestone foundation and was finally demolished in 1968 and replaced by the Nickajack Dam 6.4 miles downstream.
In addition to the television documentary, The World Wide Web provides many additions to the lore that the site is haunted.
Many citizens claimed that the dam disrupted a whirlpool in the river that local Native Americans considered sacred so they put a curse on the premises. The powerhouse for the old dam is also considered haunted. Reports by individuals have been made of seeing ghostly figures dressed in Native American clothing in the water and halls of the still standing structure.
(Another bigger mystery remains with any surviving local connections to the Cherokee Nation? The establishment of a gambling casino in the powerhouse and adjoining area would probably appease any ghost and lift the curse and build gambling palaces similar to the ones in Cherokee and Murphy, North Carolina. The nearby I-24 provides easy access to Music City, Magic City, Choo Choo City, and beyond. Any legal snags could possibly be effectively handled by the Tennessee General Assembly. Bingo has been big in the Volunteer State but casinos have additional collateral benefits, as well as potential problems.)
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You can reach Jerry Summers at jsummers@summersfirm.com