Tallapoosa River

The Tallapoosa River runs from the southern end of the Appalachian Mountains in Georgia, United States, southward and westward into the Appalachian foothills in Alabama. It is formed by the confluence of McClendon Creek and Mud Creek in Paulding County, Georgia. Lake Martin at Dadeville, Alabama is a large and popular water recreation area formed by a dam on the river. The Tallapoosa joins the Coosa River about northeast of Montgomery near Wetumpka (in Elmore County) to form the Alabama River. There are four hydroelectric dams on the Tallapoosa: Yates, Thurlow, Martin and Harris dams. They are important sources of electricity generation for Alabama Power (a unit of the Southern Company) and recreation for the public. The Tallapoosa River, especially its lower course, was a major population center of the Creek Indians before the early 19th century. The contemporary name of the river is from the Creek words Talwa posa, which mean "Grandmother Town". The Creek consider the Tallapoosa branch of their tribe to be one of the oldest. Horseshoe Bend National Military Park, a U.S. National Military Park managed by the National Park Service, is located along the banks of the Tallapoosa River just upstream from Lake Martin. It preserves a battle site associated with the Creek War. The river below Thurlow Dam provides a short run of outstanding Class II, III and IV whitewater kayaking. Tallapoosa, Georgia is named for the river, which runs near the town. The first hydroelectric dam in Alabama was built on the Tallapoosa River in 1902, by Henry C. Jones, an Auburn University electrical engineer, at the site of the current Yates Dam. It was destroyed in the flood of 1919 but rebuilt. The dam then belonged to the Montgomery Light & Water Power Company. In 1928 it was replaced by the Yates Dam. There are four hydroelectric dams on the Tallapoosa River: Yates Dam, Thurlow Dam, Martin Dam, and R.L. Harris Dam. The table below outlines the four impoundments (dams) on the Tallapoosa River from south to north.