Kinzau Dam

dam on the Allegheny River in Warren County, Pennsylvania

The Kinzua Dam is one of the largest dams east of the Mississippi River. It is along the Allegheny River in Warren County, Pennsylvania. It was created to control floods.

Kinzua Dam
Kinzua Dam in July 2015
Official nameKinzua Dam
LocationAllegheny National Forest
Glade Township / Mead Township, Warren County, Pennsylvania, United States
Coordinates41°50′16″N 79°0′11″W / 41.83778°N 79.00306°W / 41.83778; -79.00306
Construction began1960
Opening date1965
Operator(s)Army Corps of Engineers
Dam and spillways
ImpoundsAllegheny River
Height179 feet (55 m)
Length1,897 feet (578 m)
Width (base)1,245 feet (379 m)
Reservoir
CreatesAllegheny Reservoir
Total capacity1,300,000 acre-feet (1.6 km3)
Active capacity573,000 acre-feet (0.707 km3)

The construction of the dam forced many Native American Seneca people off of their land. The Seneca lost a lot of farming land. They wrote a letter to John F. Kennedy to stop the dam. He refused. They lost the Cornplanter Tract.[1][2] Several towns including Corydon, Kinzua, Quaker Bridge, and Red House were forced to move.[3]

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References

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  1. Kennedy, John F. (August 9, 1961), "Letter to the President of the Seneca Nation of Indians Concerning the Kinzua Dam on the Allegheny River", retrieved February 3, 2011
  2. "The complicated history of the Kinzua Dam and how it changed life for the Seneca people". EHN. January 30, 2020. Retrieved August 16, 2022.
  3. Hoover, William E. (2005). Kinzua: From Cornplanter to the Corps. Lincoln, NE: iUniverse. p. 10. ISBN 978-0-595-38116-6.