Carroll County Chronicles Fall 2020

number of investors. The brothers had loads of ideas and possibly good intentions, but they were short of the funds to accomplish the task.

They were, however, able to sell shares in the enterprise to several investors in the town and planned to use the money as down payments on land, construction materials and equipment. Estimated cost of the project was $20,000 ($298,000 in today’s dollar values.) They bought 20 acres on Little Reed Island Creek from John and Lillie Crockett for thirty-one hundred dollars and paid five hundred down. They also bought acreage upstream from the dam site for the waters to pond, but, again, only made down payments. Among the investors were such notables as Dr. Chester B. Nuckolls, Stephen E. Wilkinson, and Attorney Alva E. Cooley. Some said George L. Carter was also an investor, but we have no evidence to the fact. The Skaggs brothers planned to retain ownership of the system, sell the power and use the income to repay their debts and the investors. All in all, it sounded like a good, solid scheme… on the surface. The Skaggs brothers had picked a good location for the dam; a place in Little Reed Island Creek with high banks on each side with a vast open field behind it. Work on the dam began in November, 1921. Since Little Reed Island creek had an abundance of creek rocks, they were close at hand for use in the construction of the dam. Sand was hauled to the dam site by wagon from various places in the county, as far away as Sylvatus and Shorts Creek. Equipment and concrete, purchased on credit, came via train to Sylvatus and was hauled to the jobsite by wagons. Most of the workmen and teamsters worked on “futures;” payment to be made after the dam was up and operating. A cursory study of the dam indicates a lack of knowledge of engineering and/or perhaps a shortage of funds to build it properly. The base of the dam was not quite 5 feet thick and, although it was said it was supposed to be 30 feet tall, it was barely half that. Older residents, such as John Reece and John Surratt who worked on the project claimed that the concrete did not contain enough cement.

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