Chattanooga and Tennessee Electric Power Company
Encyclopedia
The Chattanooga and Tennessee Electric Power Company was formed in 1905 by Josephus C. Guild, Charles E. James and Anthony N. Brady to produce hydroelectric power and improving the navigation of the Tennessee River
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Josephus Guild, a young engineer from Chattanooga, became interested in a plan drawn by Major Dan C. Kingman, the head of the local office of the Army Engineers. The plan was originally developed to control the turbulent waters below Chattanooga in the Tennessee River gorge known as the Suck, the Pot and the Skillet. These river features, long feared by riverboat navigators, impeded trade along the waterway
Rep. John A. Moon, a Democrat first elected in 1896, introduced a bill in 1904 that enabled the project. The bill said the construction cost would be borne by the recipient of the power franchise to be operated for 99 years and the government would hold title to the Dam.
After the city of Chattanooga failed to exercise their option on the project, Josephus Guild sought financial help from Charles James, a prominent Chattanooga businessman who was always eager to help promote the city's interests. James approached Anthony Brady, a New York financier with large interests in electrical utilities, who agreed to participate in the venture.
The Hales Bar Dam
dam was built after Congressional action on January 7, 1905, changed the site from Scott's Point. The cost of the dam was over $10,000,000. Josephus Guild died during the construction; his son took an active role in the project.
In the 1920s, the company merged with the Chattanooga Railway and Light Company and Drexel and Company, which had a competing project on the Ocoee River, to form the Tennessee Electric Power Company. The combined enterprise was eventually purchased for $78,425,095 by the Tennessee Valley Authority
and other participating municipalities and co-operatives.
Tennessee River
The Tennessee River is the largest tributary of the Ohio River. It is approximately 652 miles long and is located in the southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley. The river was once popularly known as the Cherokee River, among other names...
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Josephus Guild, a young engineer from Chattanooga, became interested in a plan drawn by Major Dan C. Kingman, the head of the local office of the Army Engineers. The plan was originally developed to control the turbulent waters below Chattanooga in the Tennessee River gorge known as the Suck, the Pot and the Skillet. These river features, long feared by riverboat navigators, impeded trade along the waterway
Rep. John A. Moon, a Democrat first elected in 1896, introduced a bill in 1904 that enabled the project. The bill said the construction cost would be borne by the recipient of the power franchise to be operated for 99 years and the government would hold title to the Dam.
After the city of Chattanooga failed to exercise their option on the project, Josephus Guild sought financial help from Charles James, a prominent Chattanooga businessman who was always eager to help promote the city's interests. James approached Anthony Brady, a New York financier with large interests in electrical utilities, who agreed to participate in the venture.
The Hales Bar Dam
Hales Bar Dam
Hales Bar Dam was a hydroelectric dam once located on the Tennessee River in Marion County, Tennessee, USA. The Chattanooga and Tennessee River Power Company began building the dam in 1905 and completed it in 1913, making Hales Bar one of the first major multipurpose dams and one of the first...
dam was built after Congressional action on January 7, 1905, changed the site from Scott's Point. The cost of the dam was over $10,000,000. Josephus Guild died during the construction; his son took an active role in the project.
In the 1920s, the company merged with the Chattanooga Railway and Light Company and Drexel and Company, which had a competing project on the Ocoee River, to form the Tennessee Electric Power Company. The combined enterprise was eventually purchased for $78,425,095 by the Tennessee Valley Authority
Tennessee Valley Authority
The Tennessee Valley Authority is a federally owned corporation in the United States created by congressional charter in May 1933 to provide navigation, flood control, electricity generation, fertilizer manufacturing, and economic development in the Tennessee Valley, a region particularly affected...
and other participating municipalities and co-operatives.