Oldest Dams in North Carolina

North Carolina has 1873 dams with recorded construction dates. The oldest dates to 1700 — 326 years ago. Many of North Carolina's oldest dams were built as colonial-era mill dams, powering early industry along rivers and streams. Older dams require particular attention for safety, as many were built before modern engineering standards.

#	Dam	County	Year Built	Age	Height (ft)	Hazard	Condition
1	Orton Lake Dam	Brunswick	1700	326 yrs	12	Low	Not Rated
2	Brock Millpond Dam	Jones	1738	288 yrs	15	High	Fair
3	Long Valley Farm Lake Dam	Cumberland	1750	276 yrs	18	Significant	Not Rated
4	Rhodes Pond Dam	Cumberland	1770	256 yrs	15	High	Fair
5	Murray Lake Dam	Nash	1770	256 yrs	12	Significant	Satisfactory
6	Kellys Pond Dam	Lenoir	1774	252 yrs	15	High	Not Rated
7	Silver Lake Dam	Wilson	1785	241 yrs	13	Significant	Satisfactory
8	Murray Hill Lake Dam	Cumberland	1800	226 yrs	12	High	Not Rated
9	Merritt Millpond Dam	Duplin	1800	226 yrs	15	Significant	Not Rated
10	Parker Millpond Dam	Johnston	1800	226 yrs	14	Significant
11	Lake Austin Dam	Johnston	1800	226 yrs	8	Low
12	Fishing Creek Millpond Dam	Nash	1800	226 yrs	10	Low
13	Greenfield Lake Dam	New Hanover	1800	226 yrs	9	Low	Not Rated
14	Everett Lake Dam	Richmond	1800	226 yrs	20	Significant
15	Bryan Millpond Dam	Bladen	1801	225 yrs	9	Low	Satisfactory
16	Jones Lake Dam	Scotland	1810	216 yrs	10	Low	Fair
17	Kimesville Lake Dam	Guilford	1812	214 yrs	16	Low	Not Rated
18	Cross Lake Dam	Bladen	1820	206 yrs	17	High	Not Rated
19	Baldwin Millpond Dam	Chatham	1820	206 yrs	12	Low
20	Hadley Millpond Dam	Chatham	1830	196 yrs	11	Low	Not Rated
21	Lockville - Canal Embankment	Chatham	1830	196 yrs	30	Low	Satisfactory
22	Hackney Millpond Dam	Chatham	1831	195 yrs	12	Low
23	Hayner Lake Dam	Harnett	1837	189 yrs	10	Low
24	Johns Lake Dam	Scotland	1840	186 yrs	20	High	Not Rated
25	Mcneil Lake Dam	Hoke	1841	185 yrs	7	Low	Fair
26	Newkirk Lake Dam	Duplin	1850	176 yrs	12	Low	Satisfactory
27	Davis Millpond Dam	Lenoir	1850	176 yrs	15	Significant	Not Rated
28	Nobels Millpond Dam	Lenoir	1850	176 yrs	10	Low	Unsatisfactory
29	Ramseur Lake Dam	Randolph	1850	176 yrs	14	Low	Not Rated
30	Maxton Lake Dam	Robeson	1850	176 yrs	12	Low	Not Rated
31	House-autry Dam	Sampson	1850	176 yrs	9	Low	Not Rated
32	Crawford Lake Dam	Scotland	1850	176 yrs	12	Low
33	Weldon Lake Dam	Vance	1850	176 yrs	20	Low
34	South Lake Dam	Vance	1854	172 yrs	30	Significant	Fair
35	Waters Millpond Dam	Lenoir	1855	171 yrs	15	Significant	Fair
36	Richmond Millpond Dam	Scotland	1860	166 yrs	15	High	Fair
37	Buffalo Millpond Dam	Vance	1864	162 yrs	20	High	Fair
38	Powell Lake Dam	Moore	1865	161 yrs	15	Significant	Fair
39	Young Lake Dam	Harnett	1870	156 yrs	20	High	Not Rated
40	Jordan Mill Pond Dam	Henderson	1870	156 yrs	19	High	Satisfactory
41	Bynum	Chatham	1874	152 yrs	18	Significant	Satisfactory
42	Bryan Lake Dam	Johnston	1874	152 yrs	12	Significant	Poor
43	Tull Millpond Dam	Lenoir	1875	151 yrs	8	Low	Unsatisfactory
44	Hester Millpond Dam	Bladen	1880	146 yrs	8	Low	Satisfactory
45	Lewis Millpond Dam	Montgomery	1880	146 yrs	15	Low	Poor
46	Randolph Mill Lake Dam	Randolph	1880	146 yrs	18	Low	Not Rated
47	Ledbetter Lake Dam	Richmond	1880	146 yrs	35	High	Fair
48	Mccollum Dam	Rockingham	1880	146 yrs	22	Low	Not Rated
49	Southerland Lake Dam	Vance	1880	146 yrs	14	Low
50	Yates Millpond Dam	Wake	1880	146 yrs	19	Low	Fair

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