Glenville Lake - Thorpe Reservoir
Jackson County - Western North Carolina Mountains

Lake Glenville is a reservoir located 8 miles from Cashiers, North Carolina. It was formed by the damming of the west fork of the Tuckasegee River in 1941. Between 1951 and 2002, it was officially known as "Thorpe Reservoir"  after J. E. S. Thorpe, Nantahala Power's first president. It is still listed as such on many maps. The lake bottom plunges as steeply as the mountains that meet the shore. The depth a short distance from the water's edge may register 80 feet or more.  The lake also has 26 miles of shoreline and highest elevation lake east of the Mississippi encompassing 1,450 acres. It is only a short twenty-minute drive from Western Carolina University, and the town of Sylva.

During World War II, ALCOA (Aluminum Company of America) needed more electricity to make aluminum for the war effort. In June 1940, Nantahala Power and Light, then owned by ALCOA, began constructing a dam to generate hydroelectric power on the west fork of the Tuckasegee River at Onion Falls.  They completed it in late 1941, filling a new lake called Thorpe Reservoir or (present-day) Lake Glenville behind the dam. It encompassed the entire valley north of Cashiers. The town of Glenville was evacuated and flooded, covering schools, homes, businesses, and farmlands with water to a depth of 300 feet.

Latitude:  35.196111

Longitude:  -83.153056

Elevation:  3,494 ft

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