The
Pigeon River of western
North CarolinaNorth Carolina is a state located on the Atlantic Seaboard in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties...
and east
TennesseeTennessee is a state located in the Southeastern United States. According to the 2008 census, it has a population of 6,214,888, an increase of nearly 9.5% since 2000. Tennessee is the 14th fastest growing state in the US and is ranked 17th by population. It is ranked 36th by total land area. In...
rises above
Canton, North CarolinaCanton is the second largest town in Haywood County, North Carolina, United States. It is located about west of Asheville, North Carolina and is part of the Asheville Metropolitan Statistical Area. The town is named after the city of Canton, Ohio.- History :...
. Below this, it flows roughly parallel to
Interstate 40Interstate 40 is a major west-east Interstate Highway in the United States. Its western terminus is at Interstate 15 in Barstow, California; its eastern terminus is at a concurrency of U.S. Route 117 and North Carolina Highway 132 in Wilmington, North Carolina. Much of the western portion of I-40,...
for many miles and is impounded by a dam (Walters Dam) belonging to Progress Energy (Waterville) before entering Tennessee, where it flows into the
French Broad RiverThe French Broad River flows from near Rosman in Transylvania County, North Carolina, into Tennessee. Its confluence with the Holston River at Knoxville, Tennessee is considered to be the headwaters of the Tennessee River. It was originally named for being one of two broad rivers in western North...
.
The river takes its name from the
passenger pigeonThe passenger pigeon or wild pigeon was a species of pigeon that was once the most common bird in North America...
, an extinct bird whose
migrationBird migration is the regular seasonal journey undertaken by many species of birds. Bird movements include those made in response to changes in food availability, habitat or weather. These however are usually irregular or in only one direction and are termed variously as nomadism, invasions,...
route once included the river valley in North Carolina.
The Pigeon River dam was started in 1927 and was completed in 1930.
The
Pigeon River of western
North CarolinaNorth Carolina is a state located on the Atlantic Seaboard in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties...
and east
TennesseeTennessee is a state located in the Southeastern United States. According to the 2008 census, it has a population of 6,214,888, an increase of nearly 9.5% since 2000. Tennessee is the 14th fastest growing state in the US and is ranked 17th by population. It is ranked 36th by total land area. In...
rises above
Canton, North CarolinaCanton is the second largest town in Haywood County, North Carolina, United States. It is located about west of Asheville, North Carolina and is part of the Asheville Metropolitan Statistical Area. The town is named after the city of Canton, Ohio.- History :...
. Below this, it flows roughly parallel to
Interstate 40Interstate 40 is a major west-east Interstate Highway in the United States. Its western terminus is at Interstate 15 in Barstow, California; its eastern terminus is at a concurrency of U.S. Route 117 and North Carolina Highway 132 in Wilmington, North Carolina. Much of the western portion of I-40,...
for many miles and is impounded by a dam (Walters Dam) belonging to Progress Energy (Waterville) before entering Tennessee, where it flows into the
French Broad RiverThe French Broad River flows from near Rosman in Transylvania County, North Carolina, into Tennessee. Its confluence with the Holston River at Knoxville, Tennessee is considered to be the headwaters of the Tennessee River. It was originally named for being one of two broad rivers in western North...
.
The river takes its name from the
passenger pigeonThe passenger pigeon or wild pigeon was a species of pigeon that was once the most common bird in North America...
, an extinct bird whose
migrationBird migration is the regular seasonal journey undertaken by many species of birds. Bird movements include those made in response to changes in food availability, habitat or weather. These however are usually irregular or in only one direction and are termed variously as nomadism, invasions,...
route once included the river valley in North Carolina.
History
The Pigeon River dam was started in 1927 and was completed in 1930. The project was started by
Carolina Power & LightCarolina Power & Light was an electrical generation, transmission, and distribution utility based in Raleigh, North Carolina. The company was founded on July 13, 1908 as the result of the merger and buyout of numerous small, private, and financial distressed utilities across the state...
and was completed by its affiliate Phoenix Electric Co. The concrete dam is high by 800 ft long. The brick power plant (visible from I-40 is actually from the dam. A tunnel long stretches from the dam to the power plant.
The floods following the series of storms spawned by hurricanes
FrancesHurricane Frances was the sixth named storm, the fourth hurricane, and the third major hurricane of the 2004 Atlantic hurricane season. The system crossing the open Atlantic during mid to late August, moving to the north of the Lesser Antilles while strengthening. Its outer bands affected Puerto...
and
IvanHurricane Ivan was the strongest hurricane of the 2004 Atlantic hurricane season. It was often dubbed in the media as Ivan the Terrible. It was the tenth most intense Atlantic hurricane ever recorded. The cyclone formed as a Cape Verde-type hurricane in early September and became the ninth named...
in September 2004 have changed the character of the river. The rains lasted days and flooding was severe. Portions of the towns of Canton and
ClydeClyde is a town in Haywood County, North Carolina, United States. The 2000 census recorded the population at 1,324 people. It is part of the Asheville Metropolitan Statistical Area.-Geography:Clyde is located at ....
were completely underwater, and there was significant damage to a large portion of both towns. Farther upstream the water levels reached unprecedented levels. Part of Interstate 40 collapsed into the river gorge because of the force of the floodwaters. This began when trees on the hill beside the highway fell in the river, followed by the soil the trees had held in place. The
shoulderA hard shoulder, or simply shoulder, is a reserved area by the verge of a road or motorway. Generally it is kept clear of all traffic. In the event of an emergency or breakdown, a motorist can pull into the hard shoulder to get out of the flow of traffic and obtain an element of safety...
gave way, and a
guardrailGuard rail, sometimes referred to as guide rail or railing, is a system designed to keep people or vehicles from straying into dangerous or off-limits areas...
ended up just hanging.
A large Champion International (now
Blue Ridge Paper CompanyBlue Ridge Paper Products is a subsidiary of Evergreen Packaging, America's largest producer of gable-top juice and milk cartons in addition to a variety of papers for other uses.- The Company :...
)
paper millA paper mill is a factory devoted to making paper from wood pulp and other ingredients using a Fourdrinier Machine or similar apparatus.A website that collects and distributes essay papers on the internet, either free or for a fee is known as "web paper mills"...
in Canton was the primary source of considerable dioxin and particulate matter
pollutionWater pollution is the contamination of water bodies such as lakes, rivers, oceans, and groundwater. All water pollution affects organisms and plants that live in these water bodies and in almost all cases the effect is damaging either to individual species and populations but also to the natural...
discharged into the Pigeon River. The pollution situation in the river became a minor issue in the campaign for the
1988 Presidential electionThe United States presidential election of 1988 featured an open primary for both major parties. Ronald Reagan, the incumbent President, was vacating the position after serving the maximum two terms allowed by the Twenty-second Amendment. Reagan's Vice President, George H. W. Bush, won the...
. As
Al GoreAlbert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. is an American environmental activist and former politician who served as the 45th Vice President of the United States from 1993 to 2001 under President Bill Clinton. He is an author, businessperson, former U.S. Senator and former journalist...
started his first run for the Presidency,
NewsweekNewsweek is an American weekly newsmagazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
magazine reported that Gore was pressured by North Carolina
SenatorThe United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral United States Congress, the lower house being the House of Representatives. The composition and powers of the Senate and the House are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution . Each U.S state is represented by two senators,...
Terry SanfordJames Terry Sanford was a United States politician and educator from North Carolina. A member of the Democratic Party, Sanford was the Governor of North Carolina , a two-time U.S. Presidential candidate in the 1970s and a U.S. Senator...
and
CongressmanThe United States House of Representatives, commonly referred to as the "House," is the lower house of the bicameral United States Congress, the upper house being the United States Senate. The composition and powers of the House and the Senate are established in Article One of the Constitution...
Jamie ClarkeJames McClure Clarke was a North Carolina politician and farmer. He is a former Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives.Born in Manchester, Vermont, Clarke grew up in Asheville, North Carolina...
to ease up on his campaign against Champion's wastewater discharges into the Pigeon River. According to
Newsweek, Gore complied with their request, writing to the United States Environmental Protection Agency to oppose tighter water pollution control requirements ("Gore's Pollution Problem",
Newsweek, 24 November 1997). This issue came up again during the
2000 Presidential electionThe 2000 presidential election may refer to:* Croatian presidential elections, 2000* Federal Republic of Yugoslavia presidential election, 2000* Fijian presidential election, 2000* Ghanaian presidential election, 2000* Polish presidential election, 2000...
.
Recreation
Recreational
raftingRafting or whitewater rafting is a challenging recreational activity using an inflatable raft to navigate a river or other bodies of water. This is usually done on whitewater or different degrees of rough water, in order to thrill and excite the raft passengers...
is popular in two sections of the river, the Upper and the Lower. Both sections are found in
Hartford, TennesseeHartford is an unincorporated community in Cocke County, Tennessee, located in the southeastern United States. Although it is not a census-designated place, the ZIP Code Tabulation Area for the ZIP Code that serves Hartford had a population of 814, according to the 2000 census.Hartford is the...
. The Upper section begins at the powerhouse(located right on the North Carolina/Tennessee border) and features Class III-IV
whitewaterWhitewater is formed in a rapid, when a river's gradient increases enough to disturb its laminar flow and create turbulence, i.e. form a bubbly, or aerated and unstable current; the frothy water appears white...
rapidA rapid is a section of a river where the river bed has a relatively steep gradient causing an increase in water velocity and turbulence. A rapid is a hydrological feature between a run and a cascade. A rapid is characterised by the river becoming shallower and having some rocks exposed above the...
s. The Lower section features gentle waves and beautiful scenery..
External links