POWERGRAMS

24 the company furnishing the fruit, nuts and candy that each child got. The children drew names and everyone got a gift. One of the employees, most of the time it was Mr. Garthwright, always played Santa on Christmas Eve. He would visit each family to find out what we wanted Santa to bring us that night. I can remember one year that water was so high everyone was afraid the dam would not hold. They were afraid for our little school van to cross the dam, so we had to go around through Wetumpka to get to Holtville to school. That seemed a long way. My dad and all the employees watched the water closely as all the floodgates were open and a real danger that if the dam broke, Wetumpka would be completely underwater. I still remember the vibrations of the water going over the spillways and waking every morning to the sounds of the rumbling water. I miss that sound still today and I have been gone for many years. Sometimes it seemed that every time there was a bad thunderstorm, my dad would have to go, along with several other men, and lift a floodgate or two." Gloria Adamson Johnson (born at Jordan Dam village in 1945) "Seaborn and Lena Adamson moved into their Jordan Dam house in approximately 1927. It was one of the first permanent houses there. They lived there until my daddy retired. Their second son, Leonard, and I were both born at Jordan Dam. We were the first house on what I would call the first road. You would turn left, and the hospital was up above us. When I was there, it was no longer being used. There was a big lot that might have had something to do with the hospital, since nothing was ever built on it. Mother had a huge fenced-in chicken yard back there. She had ducks, chickens and flowers galore. Our house had a screened-in porch, small living room, dining room and kitchen. There were two bedrooms on the left side, a small hall that connected those and a bathroom. There was a back porch, where the washing machine was. Daddy built a workshop across the back road, where he worked on radios and televisions. We had the first TV at Jordan Dam because daddy did that kind of stuff. Up until then, we were like everyone else and all we had was radio. I can remember sitting in that living room and listening to that radio and picturing in your mind what they were talking about. At first, we just had the phone that went through the switchboard at the dam. But then later we got two party lines … that was a lot of fun. When I grew up there, there were lots of kids, from first grade through almost college age. We all got along good together. It didn't matter how old you were … it was 'What were you doing?' and 'Yeah, I want to do that.' My daddy loved working for the power company. Besides his family, it was his life. He thoroughly enjoyed every minute he spent there. If our daddies were working on switchboard, we could call them and ask to go see them. I miss that. At Jordan Dam, nothing was fancy, but it was just almost like it was supposed to be. Normal people from beginning to end … they didn't have much, but they appreciated what they had. We shared with each other. That's family, and I wouldn't have it any other way." Margaret Jones Barnett and sister-in-law, Wacile Jones, 1958, in the front yard of the Jones house. Jordan Dam at night. Lock 18 (Jordan Dam) hospital, July 30, 1927. Gloria Adamson Johnson with a fish she caught and brought home. Gloria Adamson Johnson with a fish she caught and brought home. Hubert Adamson in a goat cart that he, his brother Leonard, and father made. Hubert Adamson in a goat cart that he, his brother Leonard, and father made. Employees at hydro controls. Photos courtesy of Margaret Jones Barnett, Gloria Johnson, Joe McDonald and the Office of Archaeological Research.

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