The John H. Kerr Dam sits at the eastern edge of Kerr Lake, or as the locals it, Buggs Island Lake.
This lake is the largest lake in the state of Virginia and is a very well kept secret. It straddles the state line and is called Lake Gaston on the North Carolina side. Everyone but people who live here refer to the Virginia side as Kerr Lake. Locals call it Buggs Island Lake. Are you confused on the names yet? Technically, as the maps show, Kerr Lake and Lake Gaston are two different bodies of water tied together by the Roanoke River inbetween them. There's a dam on the Lake Gaston end as well (but who cares about North Carolina?)
Regular normal lake levels are around 300 feet above sea level. The above pictures were taking at the tail end of the drought of the Summer of 2002, when lake levels were around 294 feet above sea level. The top of the dam is at 320 feet above sea level. Click here for pictures of Clarksville and the lake when flood waters rose to 319 feet in 1987.
This is the side of the dam facing the lake.
This is the side of the dam facing the river.
October 2000
These pictures of both sides of the dam were taken in October 2000, when lake levels were more normal.
VA 4 crosses the dam.
The powerhouse at the dam generates an average of 426,749,000 kilowatt hours of power per year.
The Roanoke River continues on the other side of the dam.
This is Buoy #1. The town of Clarksville, the ONLY town located on the shores of a lake anywhere in Virginia, is located at Buoy #20, making it 20 miles from the dam via water.
This is a view of the dam as you arrive by boat. In building the dam, the 50,000 acre Kerr Lake was the result, with 800 miles of coastline.
There are other interesting things near the dam, including a Visitor's Center and Nature Center, along with an historic Dan River tugboat.