An angler fishes downstream of the Elk River Dam in the early 1960s. On the other side of the dam is Woods Reservoir. The reservoir, created by the 1952 completion of the Elk River Dam to supply cooling water to Arnold Engineering Development Center test facilities, opened for public fishing and recreation on May 30, 1953. Public use of the manmade lake was a topic of focus for then-AEDC Commander Brig. Gen. Samuel Harris following construction of the dam and leading up to the dedication of the waterbody as Woods Reservoir in July 1953.
Once the Elk River Dam project was completed, the extent to which the public could utilize the new manmade lake it created became a topic…