Carroll County Chronicles Fall 2020

The Skaggs Dam

In 1912, the Appalachian Power Company built hydro-electric dams at Byllesby and Buck in Carroll County to produce electricity for local factories, mines, homes, and the coal fields around Bluefield, WV. Although a short time later, they built 400 miles of transmission lines, none of the lines came to Hillsville. Residents of this mountain community were relegated to using mainly kerosene lamps to light their homes, muscle power to wash their clothes and wood-burning stoves to cook their food.

Since most folks in the county received a Sears-Roebuck or Montgomery Ward catalog, most knew of the existence of the marvels powered by electricity.

Some Electrical “Marvels” of the Early 20 th Century

The time was ripe for some enterprising person to come into the county and offer electrical service.

Two brothers, William Chadwell and Grover Cleveland Skaggs, were born in Pennington Gap in Lee County, VA, in 1888 and 1890 respectively. Their parents, John and Eveline Skaggs, had a large family of 12 children, but they gave the boys something of a good education. William attended 3 years of high school and graduated from Fork Union Military Academy in Fluvanna County, VA.

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