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History · Fontana Dam

Fontana Dam’s post office opened in 1942, and 1 of its places is on the National Register

Most of Fontana Dam was built recently: 0.0% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1973. 1 place in town is on the National Register, among them a historic district with 4 buildings. Below: 1 old photo or paper and maps from 1935 on.

1942first post office
1on the National Register
0.0%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Fontana Dam’s archive · credits on each photo
Quick answers

How Fontana Dam began

When was Fontana Dam founded?

1942

The Fontana Dam post office opened in 1942, the earliest record of the town by name. Another post office, Welch Cove (1943), opened inside today’s town and later closed.

2020 census: 1384 years
Founding year: the first Fontana Dam post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓

What stands out about Fontana Dam’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Fontana Dam’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Fontana Dam’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
1 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewFontana Dam in the mountains of North C…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Fontana Dam came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Fontana Dam.

Read it all →

The first town called Fontana in North Carolina was a tent town of the Montvale Lumber Company in 1890. The name was given by Mrs. George Leidy Wood, wife of the vice-president of the company. A permanent town was constructed nearby in 1907 to support nearby copper mines, and an extension of the Murphy Branch of the Southern Railway was constructed from Bushnell, 15 miles away.

In January, 1942, construction of the Fontana Dam began, and by 1945 this original town had been evacuated.

ChaptersIncorporation

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Fontana Dam, 1933 to 1947

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 20th century
  2. 1933In the archiveFontana Dam in the mountains of North Carolina, famous for their scenery, will be one of …
  3. 1935On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  4. 1942Post officeThe Fontana Dam post office opens
  5. 1943Post officeThe Welch Cove post office opens
  6. 1947Post officeThe Welch Cove post office closes
By decade

Fontana Dam, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1930s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1930s1 item
Fontana Dam in the mountains of North Carolina, famous for their scenery, will be one of the biggest of the Authority's…1933Fontana Dam in the mountains of North Carolina, famou…
1940s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today17 recent
Debris, Fontana Lake2021Debris, Fontana LakeDebris, Fontana Lake2021Debris, Fontana LakeDebris, Fontana Lake2021Debris, Fontana LakeDebris, Fontana Lake2021Debris, Fontana LakeDebris, Fontana Lake2021Debris, Fontana LakeCobwebs2021CobwebsCliffs, Little Tennessee River Gorge2021Cliffs, Little Tennessee River GorgeCliffs, Little Tennessee River Gorge2021Cliffs, Little Tennessee River GorgeCliffs, Little Tennessee River Gorge2021Cliffs, Little Tennessee River GorgeCliffs, Little Tennessee River Gorge2021Cliffs, Little Tennessee River GorgeCliffs, Little Tennessee River Gorge2021Cliffs, Little Tennessee River GorgeCliffs, Little Tennessee River Gorge2021Cliffs, Little Tennessee River GorgeAppalachian Trail Sign2021Appalachian Trail SignAmerican Institute of Steel Construction Plaque, North Carolina Highway 28 Bridge2021American Institute of Steel Construction Plaque, Nort…American Institute of Steel Construction Plaque, North Carolina Highway 28 Bridge2021American Institute of Steel Construction Plaque, Nort…TVA System Map2021TVA System MapMap"Downtown" at Fontana Village, N. C2011"Downtown" at Fontana Village, N. C
On the map

Fontana Dam on the map, 1935 to 2000

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Fontana Dam. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Fontana Dam on the 1935 USGS mapFontana Dam on the 1940 USGS mapFontana Dam on the 1961 USGS mapFontana Dam on the 1976 USGS mapFontana Dam on the 2000 USGS map1935Fontana sheet · 1:24,000

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Fontana Dam.

Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Fontana Dam in the mountains of North Carolina, famous for their scenery, will be one of the biggest of the Authority's…
Retake this viewFontana Dam in the mountains of North Carolina, famous for their scenery, will be one of the biggest of the Authority's…, 1933

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Fontana Dam’s page.

Retake this view · +15
On the National Register

1 listing protects 4 historic buildings

The country’s official list of buildings and places worth saving.

place listed
1
National Historic Landmarks
0
none yet
historic buildings protected
4
each building in a district counts
first listed
2017
Fontana Hydroelectric Project
Districts
All 1 listings
Fontana Hydroelectric ProjectDistrict · listed 2017

National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places. Photos from Wikimedia Commons, credited on each place’s page.

Places that used to be

Lost post offices, old corners and burying grounds

Fontana Dam’s post office has been open since 1942. Another post office, Welch Cove, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Fontana Dam
1942–today
Welch Cove
1943–1947
19401980today
Hamlets and corners on the map
Fontana Village
1cemetery inside Fontana Dam
Welch Cove

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Questions about Fontana Dam’s history

What year was Fontana Dam founded?

The Fontana Dam post office opened in 1942, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).

What is on the National Register in Fontana Dam?

One place: the Fontana Hydroelectric Project (listed 2017).

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (17), the Library of Congress (1), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.