Lake Norman (LKN) is an artificial freshwater lake located in southwestern North Carolina, approximately 15 miles (24 km) north of Charlotte. Created between 1959 and 1964 during the construction of Cowans Ford Dam by Duke Energy, it is the largest man-made body of freshwater located entirely within North Carolina. The lake is named after former Duke Power president Norman Atwater Cocke.
Spanning over 50 square miles (130 km2) with 520 miles (840 km) of shoreline, Lake Norman borders four North Carolina counties: Catawba, Iredell, Lincoln, and Mecklenburg. Fed by the Catawba River, the reservoir serves as a critical infrastructure hub for the Piedmont region, providing cooling water for the McGuire Nuclear Station and Marshall Steam Station. The water from the lake drives the generators at the hydroelectric station in Cowards Ford Dam, and supplies drinking water to surrounding municipalities.
The creation of the lake submerged historical farmlands, mill towns, and Native American settlement sites associated with the Catawba people. Following the completion of Interstate 77 in the 1970s, the surrounding area gradually transitioned from a rural agricultural district into a rapidly growing suburban corridor. Today, Lake Norman is a major regional center for recreation, supporting sport fishing, boating, and Lake Norman State Park.
Geography Lake Norman has of shoreline and a surface area of more than . It is fed by the Catawba River, and drains into Mountain Island Lake to the south. Named after former Duke Power president Norman Atwater Cocke, the lake is sometimes referred to as the "inland sea" of North Carolina. Its normal full level is above mean sea level. Interstate 77 and North Carolina Highway 150 cross Lake Norman at different points.
History Catawba history Long before the Catawba River was dammed in 1963 to create Lake Norman, the river and surrounding area were home to the Catawba people of North Carolina. Now with a reservation in Rock Hill, South Carolina, this Indian nation lived along the Catawba River for 6,000 years.
The Catawba River has long been a part of the historical narrative of settlers, as its presence provided sites with water and key cartographic information for traveling. Figure 1 illustrates a map drawn in 1775 by Henry Mouzon of North and South Carolina, in which the Catawba River and other natural features are detailed in full. For comparison, Figure 2 depicts a map of North Carolina from 1958, only a few years before the creation of Lake Norman. When placed together, one can visualize the importance of this location over the last few centuries. The 18th century map's cartographer took painstaking effort in accurately portraying the topographic facets of the landscape, while maintaining an overarching emphasis on the counties, towns, and indigenous frontiers throughout. The 20th century map shows similar details, with slight changes in the Catawba River's course—much of which can be accounted for by natural processes, such as erosion or cutoff.
Because of the river's desirability and the overarching push toward American colonialism, settlers in the 18th and 19th centuries fought over these lands with indigenous peoples. The removal of Native Americans from the Southeast is well-documented, especially with the plight of the Cherokee Nation through their journey on the Trail of Tears. The Catawba people faced a similar struggle, as they attempted to preserve their own culture while maintaining alliances with the Cherokee and other tribes. Although the process of removal had begun earlier, emphasized in the 1700s with the rise of slavery and cotton agriculture, the 1840 Nations Ford Treaty ceded Catawba land to South Carolina and provided in return "three hundred acres of which is to be good arable lands, fit for cultivation, to be purchased in Haywood County, North Carolina, or in some other mountainous or thinly populated region." In a letter sent by North Carolina Governor John Motley Morehead in 1841, he "refused to accept the Catawba" and "sarcastically proposed that the North Carolina Cherokee should instead settle themselves in South Carolina." Such sentiments proved common during this period, as in 1847 the governor of South Carolina, David Johnson, remarked, "They [the Catawba] are, in effect, dissolved."
Accordingly, although the Catawba were effectively displaced from today's Lake Norman region, their namesake and artifacts remain. Considering the long-time historical presence of the Catawba, it follows that some pieces of their material culture would exist underneath the now flooded region of Lake Norman. Pottery, for example, is considered a "cultural legacy" to the Catawba, and was traditionally "dug from clay holes along the banks of the Catawba River." Other artifacts may include tobacco pipes, gun parts, glass beads, and nose bangles. Before the influence of firearms through trading, arrows were also used; these arrowheads today are now considered prized collector's pieces. Today, archeologists are still finding new sites where the Catawba and other Native Americans lived. Further up the river in Morganton, past the dams built by Duke Energy, a 500-year old village was discovered in 2012. Research on the Catawba's presence in the Carolinas continues to be a long-term effort for archaeologists and historians alike, as seen in the "Catawba Project" run by UNC Chapel Hill. Similar places and archaeological remains likely exist beneath the waves of the lake, sitting alongside the farmlands, cemeteries, and other physical remnants predating the 1960s.
Before the lake The construction of the Cowan's Ford Dam and the subsequent creation of Lake Norman in the late 1950s and early 1960s represented just one part of a larger hydroelectric project on the Catawba River, dating back to the early 1900s. Furthermore, it fits into the larger context of river manipulation and the "energy-water nexus" that developed in the U.S. South in the early to mid-1900s. Over the course of the twentieth century, public and private entities across the U.S. South sought water management solutions for two primary purposes: environmental control—limiting flooding and drought—and electric power production.
In 1900, Walker Gill Wylie and Robert H. Wylie formed the Catawba Power Company, which was purchased by the Duke brothers upon the completion of the construction of its first power station in 1904. Throughout the early 1900s, the Duke Power Company sought to build a market for hydroelectric power and develop an interconnected hydroelectric system, rather than "random development of isolated sites." While Duke Energy's permit to construct the Cowan's Ford Dam was not obtained until 1958, the company's "plans for the project date back to 1904." As part of its project to expand demand for electricity, the Duke Power Company invested in textile mills throughout the region. By 1928, the Catawba River system was nicknamed "the world's most electrified river", with ten dams and dozens of powerhouses dispersed up and down the river.
On August 25, 1957, The Charlotte Observer reported Duke Power Company's proposal to build the Cowan's Ford Lake, "the latest (and last) of Duke Power Co.'s dammed-up creatures of the Catawba." In the article announcing the company's plan, the Charlotte Observer framed the infrastructure project largely in terms of hydroelectric power and recreation opportunities, declaring that the dam would create "a whopping charge of electrical energy for Duke and a new sportsman's playground for water-wacky Carolinians."
In a 1959 meeting at the Statesville Kiwanis Club, Duke Energy representative Bill Ward explained that the primary motivation behind the construction of the Cowan's Ford Dam was to provide "power for peak load periods." Unlike the steam-generated power plants Duke had already constructed in the area, the Cowan's Ford Dam would include "water-driven turbines" that could easily be started and stopped to control energy generation. The creation of the dam was therefore an opportunity for Duke Energy to increase its market share in the textile industry, which was transitioning production from "steam-generated power to electricity."
However, this was not the only ambition behind the project. In a 1959 publication of the Statesville Record & Landmark, home-sites that would soon become lakefront properties were being advertised by Duke Energy to potential customers. Furthermore, the company discussed its goal of bringing new industry to the area surrounding the soon-to-be lake. While these plans provided future economic stimulus for the surrounding area, they also marked a distinct shift from the industry and communities that were currently residing in the path of the impending flood.
The local newspaper record from the late 1950s and early 1960s showed little concern for the land and communities that would be flooded and displaced due to the creation of Lake Norman. According to the Charlotte Observer, the land that would be flooded was 70% timberland and "most property to be submerged...[was] already owned by Duke." In anticipation of the flooding after the completion of the dam, Duke Power employed forester Carl Blades to purchase land from "reluctant farmers". He ultimately purchased of "family farmland" that would end up submerged. Because Lake Norman was anticipated to be relatively shallow, Duke had to "scrub the land clean of trees, homes, and other debris" to "remove underwater hazards." Those individuals who would be displaced were often hesitant, but "there weren't any huge protests." Some residents even "turned the burden" of the new lake "into a boon." A number of farmers benefited by holding on to what would soon become expensive lakefront property, while other residents refused to sell to Duke Energy and as a result leased their water rights to the company.
The project to construct Cowan's Ford Dam broke ground in 1959. Upon the dam's completion in 1962, the lake began to fill with water. After the construction of dam, the Catawba River slowly covered the 30,000 acres of land where farms, mills, plantations, and entire communities once resided. Historic sites, such as the battlefield for the Revolutionary War Battle of Cowan's Ford, were also flooded during the creation of Lake Norman.
The mill towns of East Monbo and Long Island closed in 1959 and 1961, respectively, in anticipation of the formation of the lake. Situated on the banks of the Catawba River, the mills were extremely at risk of inundation. The proposal for Lake Norman and Cowan's Ford Dam had brought uncertainty to the "community of oldtimers" living in these mill towns. In a segment titled "Where will the lake come?", Douglas Eisele of the Statesville Record and Landmark remarked on the mill communities' public memory of earlier flooding and resilience, writing: "will man's ingenuity finally take down what two historic floods could not destroy?" While the foundations of the mill towns' building remain beneath the lake, some families moved their houses outside the range of the lake flooding.
Furthermore, several cemeteries, such as the Caldwell Family Cemetery and Flemming Family Cemetery, are now covered by the lake. Duke Energy tracked down family members of those buried in the surrounding cemeteries to determine how the graves should be handled before the flood. Many individuals asked for the gravestones to be transported to a new location and Duke ensured the markers were "cleaned and repaired" once they were moved.