At the beginning of World War I, Chile was the largest supplier of nitrates, a key ingredient in explosive munitions, to the United States, raising concerns that German naval activity might disrupt that supply. Congress responded with the National Defense Act of 1916, authorizing federal construction of two domestic nitrate plants and a hydroelectric dam to power them. In 1917, the federal government chose the Shoals as the site for the nitrate plants and the dam. Construction of the nitrate plants began that year, while work on the dam started on February 23, 1918. After the war ended on Armistice Day, November 11, 1918, the nitrate plants fell into disuse, and operations were formally suspended in 1922. Work on the future Wilson Dam continued until 1921, when funding ran out, and Congress remained divided over whether private interests or public ownership should control the dam and nitrate plants. Senator George Norris of Nebraska successfully supported public ownership, and in 1922 the government provided an additional $7.5 million so construction could resume. The United States Army Corps of Engineers completed Wilson Dam on September 12, 1925, at a cost of $45 million.

Photo: Sandra Hughes Tidwell

Photo: Sandra Hughes Tidwell

Muscle Shoals, Alabama · USA