Watts Bar Getaway

Worker Housing Transformed to Successful Resort

Every TVA dam built came with its own set of puzzles – engineering, construction, logistics and, often, housing. Because its dams were typically built in remote locations, TVA often constructed housing – sometimes even entire communities – for the workers who built them swiftly and well.

Such a place was Watts Bar. It was, to be blunt, located in an East Tennessee backwater – beautiful yet remote and largely inaccessible. Still, it became home to as many as 1,800 workers during construction of Watts Bar Dam from 1939-1942.

The local housing market was virtually nonexistent. TVA responded quickly by creating a village that included a cafeteria, a hospital, community building, eight dormitories and 50 single-family cottages. The village was also served by almost two miles of streets and public paths, telephone service, a gas station, a baseball field, tennis courts, playgrounds for the children – and, of course, electricity.

Changing Hands

It was a thriving community – right up to the moment the dam gates were closed on Jan, 1, 1942. As generators came online – Unit 3 in February 1942, Unit 2 in April 1942, Unit 1 in July 1942, and Units 4 and 5 in March and April 1944 – workers gradually moved on.

By the late 1940s, the village was nearly empty, though a few stalwart TVA families stayed on. TVA eventually sold the property to an enterprising Michigander named Pete Smith. Along with is wife, Sally, and sister-in-law, Katie Marshall, Smith renovated 41 of the cabins, opened a restaurant, and added a swimming pool, riding stables, shuffleboard and a boat dock. With all that done, and some gorgeous landscaping in place, too, they opened Watts Bar Resort in 1950. It was a smash.

There was never a set agenda at Watts Bar Resort – no special programs, organized recreation or fishing expeditions. “I just let our guests do what they want to do,” Smith told the New York Times in a 1964 feature story, when the resort was at its peak.

That proved a recipe for success. People came from all over the U.S. to spend time at what eventually became known as Pete Smith’s Watts Bar Resort. Pete once noted about 80% of the car tags in the resort came from states above of the Mason Dixon line – northerners eager to soak up the Tennessee sun and play on the lake.

Love from the Locals

Local support was strong, too. Residents of the surrounding area often dined at the resort’s restaurant. “The dining room was the place to be for a ‘special’ meal, and usually required reservations if you wanted to be assured of a table,” remembers Pat Guffey in a story in the Rhea County Herald News. “The clientele for meals not only included the cabin guests, but was also composed of people from Rhea County, Chattanooga, Cleveland, Athens, Knoxville and other areas.”

On the menu: fried onions served on as a “bale of hay,” refreshing cucumber salad, Jell-O confections and lush coconut cream pie. The kitchen would happily fry up whatever fish you’d caught that day.

Many remember the adjacent gift shop for its unique offerings – one-of-a-kind gewgaws. “The gift shop was full of little keepsakes from around the world,” writes Jim Lemmon in his blog JWL’s Views of the World and Other Places. “I’m sure there are a few items purchased there that are still around the house someplace.”

The End of an Era

When he’d grown tired of running the business in the 1970s, Smith sold the resort to a pair of brothers from Illinois – David and Edward Probst – and their wives, Bonnie and Joyce. The Probst family carried on running the resort throughout 1990s, but enthusiasm for the local charm eventually waned.

Today, the resort is closed and the buildings have been bulldozed. The area is gated and locked. “It has the aura of a ghost town surrounding it,” said Guffey.

But recreation on Watts Bar Reservoir continues – as any spring, summer or fall weekend will show. Those who enjoyed time at Pete Smith’s Watts Bar Resort – and those who didn’t – can swim, sun, fish, boat, hike, picnic and have just as much fun at Watts Bar.