Toccoa Falls Disaster - Toccoa Falls, GA
Posted by: 
Firefrog69
N 34° 35.701 W 083° 21.621
17S E 283536 N 3830665
A terrible tragedy on the Toccoa Falls University Campus.
Waymark Code: WM2NKX
Location: Georgia, United States
Date Posted: 11/26/2007
Views: 82
The dam above Toccoa Falls, Georgia, gave some cause for concern. 55 acres of lake pressed against an old earthen embankment built in 1887. Located in Northern Georgia's Stephen's County, it was about ninety miles northeast of Atlanta. Below the dam, Toccoa Creek plunged 186 feet in an uninterrupted drop, to emerge from a canyon beside a Christian and Missionary Alliance College that sprawled across 100 beautiful acres. Indeed, it had gotten its name from the Cherokee word Toccoah, which means "beautiful."
When volunteer firemen inspected the dam late on November 5th, the water was running normally. But a few hours later, in the wee hours of the morning, on this day, November 6, 1977, the dam broke. Within minutes, a wall of water, traveling at 120 miles an hour, smashed into the campus. When it thundered past, roaring like nothing made by man, thirty-nine members of the community died.
Disaster Date: 11/06/1977
Memorial Sponsors: Toccoa Falls University
Disaster Type: Technological
Relevant Website: [Web Link]
Date of dedication: Not listed
Parking Coordinates: Not Listed
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