Kinzua Dam

The Kinzua Dam, on the Allegheny River in Warren County, Pennsylvania, is one of the largest dams in the United States east of the Mississippi River. It is located within the Allegheny National Forest.The dam is located 6mi east of Warren, Pennsylvania, along Route 59, within the 500000acre Allegheny National Forest. A boat marina and beach are located within the dam boundaries. In addition to providing flood control and power generation, the dam created Pennsylvania's second deepest lake, the Allegheny Reservoir, also known as Kinzua Lake.The lake extends 25 miles to the north, nearly to Salamanca, New York, which is within the Allegany Reservation of the Seneca Nation of New York. Federal condemnation of tribal lands to be flooded for the project displaced more than 600 Seneca members and cost the reservation, nearly one-third of its territory and much of its fertile farmland.ConstructionIn 1936, a major flood struck the Pittsburgh metropolitan area and caused widespread damage. This prompted Congress to pass the Flood Control Acts of 1936 and 1938, authorizing the construction of a dam on the Allegheny River. Construction of the dam was not begun by the US Army Corps of Engineers until 1960; it was completed in 1965, and filling of the reservoir continued to 1967.