The Fontana Project Construction Camp: A Mid-Twentieth Century Appalachia Workers’ Camp

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Paper / Report Submission (General Sessions)", at the 2024 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

In the summer of 2022, New South Associates conducted a Phase I survey in the vicinity of the Fontana Dam and Fontana Village Resort. The survey area was the location of the 1940s Fontana Project Construction Camp, which housed approximately 2,000 unmarried workers and included dormitories, tents, a cafeteria, and numerous recreation facilities for those working on the Fontana Hydroelectric Project. The bounds of previously recorded site 31GH273, associated with the construction of Fontana Dam, were expanded to encompass the entire camp as shown on a 1950s map.

This influx of workers spurred economic development throughout Western North Carolina and Eastern Tennessee. Site 38GH273 could provide information regarding the lifeways of the project’s workforce that is not available from documentary material. Additionally, as a racially segregated camp, building features and subsurface infrastructure still present could benefit studies of racial and gendered experiences within workers’ camps in the region.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2024   •
• Paper / Report Submission (General Sessions)

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Nicole Haddow