Defrauded? Headquarters in Tennessee, not Muscle Shoals

The Tennessee Valley Authority Act that was signed into law by President Roosevelt in 1933 stipulated the public utility's headquarters were to be in Muscle Shoals.

Knoxville, Tenn., however, became the de facto command center even as the ink from Roosevelt's pen dried.

It's no secret that many in the Shoals feel defrauded that the headquarters strayed from the area. It's a sentiment that is still shared by many area residents, particularly those who were often told of the maneuvering while growing up in northwest Alabama.

"They've a done a lot for us, but they never treated us right," said C.W. Simpson, an 82-year-old Lauderdale County resident. "They were supposed to put their headquarters here and leave it here. We could have what Knoxville has today. No sir, it ain't right, and they know it ain't."

It's hard to question Simpson's logic, especially when it's spelled out in the legislation that created TVA. The act clearly states: "The Corporation shall maintain its principal office in the immediate vicinity of Muscle Shoals, Alabama."

The issue became a controversy for some almost from the start. It led to nearly 50 years of investigations and lawsuits that culminated in a Supreme Court ruling in 1982 that allowed the headquarters to stay in Knoxville.

Even after the ruling, north Alabama residents openingly complained that an Alabamian had never been selected to the TVA board of directors.

That changed a couple of years ago when Howard Thrailkill, of Huntsville, was chosen when the TVA board expanded from three to nine members.

Perhaps in a symbolic gesture and in celebration of TVA's 75th anniversary, the nine-member board will meet today in Muscle Shoals.

The controversy over the headquarters can be simply explained.

"It really boils down to logistics," said Pat Ezell, a TVA historian.

When TVA board members held their first meeting in June 1933, their first large project in the Tennessee Valley was the construction of Norris Dam, just outside of Knoxville.

The University of Tennessee in Knoxville sweetened the deal by making its labs and law library available for the TVA staff.

William Bruce Wheeler, emeritus professor of history at the University of Tennessee, who co-wrote a book about TVA's Tellico Dam, speculated that there could be several reasons why Knoxville became TVA's headquarters.

At the time, Knoxville was a larger and more established city than Muscle Shoals, which had 727 residents of mostly farmers and a smattering of business owners, according to local historian Jesse Bradford. In contrast, Knox County in Tennessee had nearly 156,000 residents.

"In a way, it made sense because Knoxville is technically where the Tennessee River begins," Wheeler said.

Just north of Knoxville, the Holston and French Broad rivers meet and form the Tennessee River. The Tennessee bends and turns 652 miles into Paducah, Ky., where it flows into the Ohio River.

The headquarter controversy led to decades of back-and-forths between Muscle Shoals and Knoxville, a battle decided by the Supreme Court ruling 26 years ago.

Muscle Shoals didn't go down without a fight, though.

"There was a period in 1939, (when) the board decided to review the headquarter question and they found out that there was no office space in Muscle Shoals," Ezell said.

The TVA Reservation in Muscle Shoals would have required construction, but officials tabled any possible plans involving Muscle Shoals when World War II started.

"That stopped everything all building and construction materials went to the war," Ezell said.

In 1950, the board approved building the headquarters in Muscle Shoals, but the United States' involvement in the Korean War limited steel supplies. As a result, construction had to be postponed.

The closest the headquarters got to Muscle Shoals came in 1953 when the board announced plans to move. Business interests, politics and finances played significant roles in killing the idea.

Knoxville businesses protested the move would eliminate 500 jobs. Knoxville, a Republican stronghold, also benefited from President Dwight Eisenhower, a Republican who just took office, whereas Muscle Shoals was a longtime Democratic stronghold.

In the 1970s, Alabama sued TVA to move the headquarters to Muscle Shoals, but TVA won on appeal in 1981. Then, the Supreme Court closed the case for good by ruling, without comment, that the appeals court ruling was correct and that the headquarters was to remain in Knoxville.

At the time, many in the area were disappointed by the ruling.

Former U.S. Rep. Ronnie Flippo, a Florence Democrat, called the ruling "a decision of expediency and not of fairness. I find that most unfortunate."

Trevor Stokes can be reached at 740-5728 or trevor.stokes@timesdaily.com.