Since the early 1800s, several hundred families lived in the Johnsonville-Reynoldsburg area. The same body of water that gave birth to Johnsonville also wrote the final chapter in its history. In 1945 the Tennessee River became Kentucky Lake, and farmlands, factory sites, and some residential areas were either covered with water or subject to flooding. The Tennessee Valley Authority purchased all lands adjacent to the Tennessee River, and the inhabitants were relocated. Today, only a few pieces of concrete, the railroad bed, and a few leveled building sites remain to remind visitors that for a hundred years Johnsonville was home for many families.