April 23, 1928

Now covering as many as 40,000 acres when full, the Thomas Wesley Martin Dam did not exist a century ago. In 1916, Alabama Power began buying land and options in Tallapoosa and Elmore counties, with the actual construction starting in earnest in July 1923. It took the better part of three years to build the 168-foot high concrete structure, which spans 2,000 feet across the Tallapoosa River at Cherokee Bluffs.

By 1926, more than 400,000 yards of concrete had been poured and the floodgates were closed. But it would take a long time to fill what was then the largest man-made lake on Earth. A heavy rain on April 23, 1928 tilted the balance, and Alabama Power had to open the floodgates for the first time. Today, when at full pool, Lake Martin provides more than 700 miles of shoreline.

Read more at Encyclopedia of Alabama.

Water wheel of Unit 1, Martin Dam, Aug. 12, 1926. (Alabama Power Company Archives)

Lake Martin was created with the construction of the Thomas Wesley Martin Dam on the Tallapoosa River in 1926 and filled completely by 1928. It is Alabama’s largest manmade lake, encompassing 40,000 acres with more than 700 miles of shoreline. In the late 1920s, it was the largest man-made lake in the world. (From Encyclopedia of Alabama, courtesy of Alabama Power Company)

Thomas W. Martin (1881-1964) was the president of Alabama Power from 1920-1949. He was a lawyer in Montgomery in the early 20th century who helped draft the state’s dam laws. Martin was associated with electrical engineer and businessman James Mitchell when the latter purchased Alabama Power Company in Gadsden in 1912. The Thomas W. Martin Dam, built in the late 1920s across the Tallapoosa River at Cherokee Bluffs, was named in Martin’s honor. (From Encyclopedia of Alabama, courtesy of Birmingham Public Library Archives)

View of construction of Martin Dam, June 24, 1926. (Alabama Power Company Archives)

Placing the No. 2 rotor and shaft, Martin Dam, July 20, 1926. (Alabama Power Company Archives)

For more on Alabama’s Bicentennial, visit Alabama 200.