Bluestone Lake

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Bluestone Lake, located on the New River near Hinton in Southern West Virginia, was authorized by Presidential Executive Order in 1935 and approved by the U.S. Congress in the Flood Control Acts of 1936 and 1938. Construction of the project was begun in early 1941, suspended in 1942 because of World War II, resumed in 1946, and completed for operational purposes in 1949. Bluestone Lake is the third largest lake in West Virginia.

Bluestone Dam, of concrete construction, is 165 feet high and 2,048 feet long. The lake regulates the runoff of a drainage area of 4,565 square miles. During periods of low and normal flows of the New River, the elevation of the lake varies approximately four feet, with a minimum pool 9.5 miles in length and an area of 1,800 acres. The remaining capacity is reserved for the impoundment of flood flows.