Changing Landscape

I think I shared on SurvivaLogic a while back this old map of the Etowah River, but seeing the two areas compared next to each other is striking. Over a decade ago, my grandad loaned me a favorite book of his and his father, called Goodbye to a River, by John Graves, which I am rereading currently. All of that side of my family are old Texas folks, and the book is centered around the damming of the Brazos River that was completed in 1969. The book is a reflection on the "life" of the river, the way it shapes the culture and geography, and the way it changes when interfered with (or harnessed, depending on your position). I'm not as familiar with the pre-Allatoona area of Georgia that used to be just Etowah River shoreline, but I do know there is the site of at least one Civil War battle beneath what is now the lake. The old native settlements, roads, trails, graves, caves, memories, artificats - all of that went aquatic in 1949.

A few facts from Wikipedia:

• Allatoona Pass was the site of an intensive 8-hour battle during the Atlanta Campaign of the American Civil War in June 1864. More than 1500 Union and Confederate soldiers were killed, wounded or missing.
• The lake was authorized by the Flood Control Acts of 1941 and 1946. The creekside town of Allatoona was destroyed by the creation of the lake. Several roads were also severed or rerouted, including Acworth Dallas Highway.
• The general contractor for construction of Allatoona Dam was National Constructor Inc. The total cost of the Allatoona project for construction, land, clearing, and relocationwas $31,500,000 in 1950.
• The record high water on Allatoona of 861.19 feet (262.49 m) occurred on April 9, 1964.
• The Corps collected more than $1 million in camping and day use fees in 2006.
• From 1950 through 2006, 281 drownings have occurred in Allatoona.
• The power plant began operation January 31, 1950.
• During the late 1980s there was a prolonged drought. The peak of the drought in 1986^[1] exposed vast portions of the lake bed revealing tree stumps, roads, and foundations of houses (Wilson's farm). 
• In 1998 Allatoona clocked 86,813,126 hours, which were more visitor hours than any of the other 450 Corps of Engineer projects in the United States, and exceeded that in 2006 with more than 92 million visitor hours.
• The presence of Allatoona Dam has prevented nearly $80 million in flood damages since 1950.