Posted in West Virginia
July 10, 2016
Most People Have No Idea There’s An Underwater Ghost Town Hiding In West Virginia
Summersville Lake is a popular attraction in Nicholas County, West Virginia, but few people know that there was once a town where the water is now.
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It was constructed between 1960 and 1966 by the United States Army Corps of Engineers, in order to control flooding in the area.
Activities on the lake include swimming, fishing, boating, snorkeling, and scuba diving.
Typically, dams are named after the nearest town when they are built, but rather than use the name "Gad Dam," the US Army Corps of Engineers decided to use the name of the next nearest town, Summersville.
Occasionally Summersville Lake is drained for repairs, and you can still see parts of the roadway, foundations, and carvings in the rock from Gad’s former residents. Although those who lived there miss their old town, the dam has saved the area from an estimated $407,400,000 in flood damages.
Here’s a video with more pictures and history of Gad by YouTube user TheSCTVguy.
If you’d like to learn more about West Virginia’s forgotten history, take a look at this beautiful ghost town.
