Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

WEST POINT — The year 2025 marks a significant anniversary for the local area. It’s the 50th year for West Point Dam and Lake, and the Project Management Office is planning a mid-June program to celebrate it.

West Point Dam and Lake were authorized by the Federal Flood Control Act of 1962 with its primary purposes being flood control, the generation of hydroelectric power, navigation, wildlife development and general recreation.

At its normal pool level of 635 feet above sea level, the lake has more than 25,000 acres of water and extends more than 35 river miles from just north of West Point to just south of Franklin. It has a shoreline of some 525 miles and drains an area of approximately 3,400 square miles. West Point Lake is surrounded by deep forests and rolling fields. More than 30,000 acres of surrounding land offer excellent habitat for wildlife to flourish.

Behind the dam, West Point Lake has a maximum depth of around 85 feet at full pool. There’s an overall average depth of a little more than 23 feet.

“We are planning events throughout the year to celebrate the anniversary,” Supervisory Park Ranger Susan Cromer told The Valley Times-News. “With the original dedication ceremony having taken place on June 7th, 1975, we are planning a 50th year celebration on Friday, June 13th of this year. We’re asking everyone to stay posted on what’s going to take place.”

The pre-dedication events in 1975 included the crowning of a Miss West Point Lake at the Holiday Inn in Lanett. A panel of judges selected Miss Donna Henry for that honor on May 2nd.

On Friday, June 6th, Elizabeth Andrews presided over the unveiling of a time capsule at the West Point Dam Powerhouse. She was the first woman from Alabama to hold a seat in the U.S. Congress. She was elected to succeed her husband, George Andrews, who had died after heart surgery in 1971. She was in her second term in 1975.

Other planned events in that first weekend in June 1975 included a Friday evening reception for honored guests at the Holiday Inn in Pine Mountain, a banquet hosted by the Valley Chamber of Commerce at the Pine Mountain Holiday Inn, an 8:30 p.m. public street dance in downtown West Point followed by a fireworks show along the river.

The June 7th dedication day was marred by a highway accident that claimed the lives of two people and injured many others. A bus carrying dignitaries from Pine Mountain to West Point was involved in a head-on collision with a log truck. The two drivers were killed and a number of passengers on the bus were injured, among them keynote speaker Howard “Bo” Callaway.

Callaway was Secretary of the Army at the time, and despite going through what he had the day before, went ahead and spoke, delivering some appropriate remarks to a crowd of several thousand people that was on hand.

WestPoint Pepperell President and Chief Executive Officer Joe Lanier Jr. was the emcee for the 2 p.m. ceremony. Others to speak included Alabama Lieutenant Governor Jere Beasley, Special Assistant to the Governor of Georgia T. Steven Johnson, Valley Chamber of Commerce President Ray Warner, Office of Chief of Engineers Director of Civil Works Maj. Gen. John W. Morris, and U.S. Senator James C. Allen of Alabama.

Speakers hailed the new dam and lake as a wonderful asset for the two-state region. It was seen as a boost to tourism, recreation, and wildlife. The dam’s two 35,000 kilowatt generators could be counted on to provide needed electricity for the nation’s power grid.

In June 2000, the West Point Project played host to the 25th anniversary of West Point Dam and Lake. Located in the powerhouse, the time capsule was unsealed, revealing the contents that had been placed inside back in 1975. Also on hand was Donna Henry McDowell, Miss West Point Lake 1975.

At its inception, West Point Dam and Lake was designated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as a recreation demonstration project.

With that designation, funding was provided for traditional recreational facilities such as boat ramps, campgrounds and picnic sites along with nontraditional sites such as playgrounds, play courts and amphitheaters.

At present, the West Point Project manages four campgrounds. Amity Park is on the Alabama side with R. Shaefer Heard, Holiday and Whitetail Ridge in Georgia. Parks such as Pyne Road Park and Brush Creek are maintained by county governments. Formally known as Autry Park, Camp Lumpkin is a large Boy Scout camp that plays host to Scouts far and wide.

The Georgia Department of Natural Resources leases three wildlife management areas on West Point Project lands. There are a number bald eagle nests on these lands, and DNR wildlife biologists track the movements of eagles with radio telemetry. Some eagles that winter on West Point Lake have been tracked as far north as Hudson Bay in Canada during the summer months.

Visitation to West Point Lake has been strong over its 50-year history. In most years it’s around 2.2 million people. During Covid, it dropped down to 1.8 million.

Funding in the President’s Budget for the West Point Project was around $4.4 million in 2020 and more than $5.1 million in 2024. The Project generated more than $1.5 million in user fees in 2024.

West Point Dam has seen a great deal of upgrades over the years. The road the top of the dam is presently closed while some work is going on at spillway gates five and six, which are being refurbished and painted. That work is winding down, and the road should be reopened in the near future.