I didn't know that!

One of the wonderful things about the internet is the availability of information. When that information is wrong it can be changed. Unlike a book, the web page can be "fixed" when an error is found.

At least that's how it should work. If you find errors on my site, please let me know ASAP. I want the error gone before the next reader comes along.

I read this ( now missing - http://www.charlotteobserver.com/opinion/story/981876.html) Charlotte Observer editorial. One of the comments contained a link to this Buzzle article. Before creating this page, I tried to submit a comment to Buzzle. They don't make it easy to get in touch with them. My attempt to submit a comment failed. So, I will comment here.

"Tucked away in the heart of the North Carolina Piedmont is a lake known today as Badin Lake. In the past it has gone by various other names, such as the Yadkin Reservoir and Tallahassee Lake in 1944."

I think the author means Tallassee, an early subsidiary of Alcoa. I'm not sure what the year 1944 has to do with the name. The author may have intendend to write 1914. It's possible when the lake was first created someone called it Yadkin Reservoir, after all it is a reservoir on the Yadkin River. The Buzzle article takes a lot of swings but fails to hit the first and most accurate name, Narrows Reservoir.

"This lake was purchased by ALCOA from a French aluminum firm."

Alcoa purchased the UNFINISHED project from the French. The French had just begun to work on Narrows Dam. There was no lake when Alcoa made the purchase.

"This firm had dammed up the Yadkin River in 1914 in several places in order to create several reservoirs."

No, the French had only just begun Narrows Dam. The Alcoa web site gives 1915 as the date of purchase. It took two more years before Narrows Reservoir (Badin Lake) was formed. Alcoa-Yadkin History