Abstract:
The Fontana Resort, modern by most standards, is the third resort on the site and its history extends back before the turn of the century. Capital of the lumber empire in the 1890s, a railway transformed it into a boom town, later boasting a profitable copper mine, and a large dam. The second Fontana village was built to house construction workers for the TVA dam, and was eventually abandoned. It has now been rebuilt, modernized, and expanded to become one of the state's largest vacation facilities.