The Old City Dam in Shelbyville, TN along the Duck River has seen its share of floods over the years. The question now is, will the old power house remain or will it be torn down?
The Tennessee Preservation Trust continues to call the old red brick building on the edge of the waterway an endangered historic site, yet little has been done to preserve it.
The building was constructed in 1915 to generate electricity for the community of about 2,800 residents. Today, closer to 21,000 residents from a variety of backgrounds call Shelbyville home.
The power generating facility was sold to the Tennessee Electric Power Company in 1929 and later to the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) in 1939. The TVA stopped using the site in 1948 and sold it to the City of Shelbyville in 1950. It has now been unused for 68 years.
As for the Duck River, it is the longest river in Tennessee. The 284 mile stretch of water is also home to more than 50 freshwater mussels and 151 different species of fish. While it may be hard to believe, the Duck River is the most biologically diverse river in all of North America.