New museum to celebrate Fontana Dam’s 70th
A community museum and learning center at Fontana Village along Fontana Lake will commemorate the 70th anniversary of power production at Fontana Dam, thanks to an alliance between Proctor Revival Organization, Fontana Village Resort, Graham Revitalization Economic Action Team and Western Carolina University’s Mountain Heritage Center.
The partnership will create exhibits and collect archives that document the region’s history, from the pioneer past through the present day.
The museum will recognize the dam’s historical significance, as it was originally built to provide power for the war effort in the 1940s, and the sacrifices the people of Western North Carolina made during World War II. The electricity generated at Fontana allowed accelerated production of nuclear material at Oak Ridge, Tennessee, for the secret Manhattan Project. www.proctorrevival.com
