Bluestone Dam

Bluestone Lake was authorized by Section 5 of the Flood Control Act of 1936, amended by section 4 of the FCA of 1938. The primary project purposes are flood risk management, fish and wildlife enhancement, recreation, and low flow augmentation. Bluestone Dam spans the New River at Hinton, WV forming Bluestone Lake, the third largest lake in West Virginia. At summer pool Bluestone Lake covers 2,040 acres and is 10.7 miles long. Bluestone Dam was constructed as part of the Kanawha River Basin flood control system primarily to reduce major flood damages along the New, Kanawha, Ohio, and Mississippi Rivers. Bluestone Dam was completed for operational purposes in January 1949 and completely finished in January 1952. Total construction cost of this concrete gravity dam, 165 ft. high and 2,048 ft. long, was approximately $30,000,000 including land acquisition.  Bluestone Dam has prevented over 2.1 billion dollars worth of flood damage from occurring.  Bluestone Dam has the largest drainage area, 4,565 square miles, of any dam in West Virginia. The New River begins at Blowing Rock, North Carolina and flows north through Virginia into West Virginia. The New River is the oldest river in North America and partially follows the path of the prehistoric Teays River.