[1] The dam impounds the 7,000-acre (2,800 ha) Chatuge Lake, which straddles the North Carolina-Georgia state line.

[2] While originally built solely for flood storage, a generator installed at Chatuge in the 1950s gives the dam a small hydroelectric output.

[3] The dam's concrete overflow "ski-jump" spillway consists of 50 bays with a combined discharge of 11,500 cubic feet per second (330 m3/s).

[1] Various private entities recognized the hydroelectric potential of the Hiwassee in the early 1900s, although plans for dams were typically focused further downstream from the Chatuge site.

[4] After taking control of flood control operations in the valley in the 1930s, the Tennessee Valley Authority built Hiwassee Dam and carried out an extensive survey of the river (the waters of which were a major contributor to flooding in Chattanooga) in which they identified the Chatuge site.

The outbreak of World War II in Europe brought an emergency demand for electricity, mainly to power aluminum production in East Tennessee, and TVA offered to meet this demand by building a series of dams on the Hiwassee and several other Tennessee River tributaries.

[10] One house relocated from the Elf community during the clearing of the land later became the Clay County School District superintendent’s office until 2005.

[3] In 1985, TVA spent $3 million to raise Chatuge Dam by six feet in order to accommodate higher rainfall.