Name: The Control of Water: The Story of the TVA
Uploaded: 2021
Duration: 12 min 40 s
Description: During the 1930s, communities across Appalachia were in the dark at night because electric lines still had not connected them to the 20th Century. The TVA turned to the watersheds draining the Great Smoky Mountains and built a series of hydroelectric complexes that sparked the South’s economy.

During the 1930s, communities across Appalachia were in the dark at night because electric lines still had not connected them to the 20th Century. The TVA turned to the watersheds draining the Great Smoky Mountains and built a series of hydroelectric complexes that sparked the South’s economy.

embedded

Explore how the Tennessee Valley Authority transformed Appalachia in the 1930s by harnessing the watersheds draining the Great Smoky Mountains. This documentary traces the fight over public power, the rise of hydroelectric complexes, and the far-reaching changes in electricity, flood control, and navigation. Sign up to see how control of water helped spark the South's economy.

How one river system rewired the rural South and reshaped America.

During the 1930s, poor areas of Appalachia didn’t have electricity. The TVA turned watersheds into a series of hydroelectric complexes that provided power to the South.