 Both public and private entities were aware of the hydroelectric potential of the South Fork Holston River in the early 1900s, although other than Wilbur Dam (completed in 1912) on the river's Watauga River tributary, no major dam projects were attempted.In the 1920s, the Holston River Power Company surveyed the river basin with plans to build four dams, and identified the present Boone site (the company called it the "Bachman Ford" site).In the 1930s, when the Tennessee Valley Authority assumed oversight of flood control operations in the Tennessee River watershed, the agency suggested the Boone site (the agency originally called it the "Spurgeon Island" site) as a potential dam site.