After decades as a postcard-ready backdrop and hometown hangout, Peery’s Mill Dam is officially on the chopping block. The low-head concrete barrier on the Little River near Walland is slated for removal under a newly finalized federal and state agreement, reigniting a long-running tug-of-war between public-safety officials and locals who treat the spot as both a scenic overlook and a piece of living history. The adjacent mill site traces back to the mid-19th century and appears on the National Register of Historic Places, even as safety advocates point to repeated rescues and fatal incidents tied to the dam’s hydraulics.
Federal, state partners sign off
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Nashville District has signed a project partnership agreement with the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation and the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency to remove Peery’s Mill Dam, officials said in December 2025. The plan follows a joint environmental assessment and a Finding of No Significant Impact completed in 2023 and calls for instream features to help stabilize eroding banks while leaving the mill race wall in place, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Safety record and drownings
The 2019 drowning of 13-year-old Alexis Shirley at the dam was reported by WVLT, and other local outlets have documented multiple rescues at the site over the years. Regional public-radio coverage and partner newsrooms have also detailed how the hydraulics of low-head dams can be deceptively dangerous and helped build momentum for removal; that reporting is available from WUOT and the Appalachia + Mid-South Newsroom.
Historic listing and early origins
The Peery Mill Site is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and has roots in the 1840s, when early settlers and millers established a mill on the Little River. The National Park Service records the site’s NRHP status, and the University of Tennessee’s digital collections include county inventories and historic photographs documenting the Peery complex near Old Walland Highway.
Family ties and a burned restoration
Generations of Peery family members operated a mill that produced flour and cornmeal for customers across the region before ownership shifted several times in the 20th century and operations ceased in the 1970s. Christy Martin’s reporting in the Daily Times traces that ownership history and notes that the mill building was destroyed by fire in the 1980s, while the dam remained in place as a local landmark and gathering spot.
With the partnership agreement now in place, federal and state officials say the Corps will move into the design and permitting phase. The agency is expected to draft engineering plans, complete cultural-resource commitments, and advertise contracts to remove the dam, a sequence of steps that could take several months before any construction crews arrive on the river. The plan builds on a 2023 feasibility study and a Finding of No Significant Impact, and regional reporting has put the estimated price tag at roughly $14 million, as outlined by Army.mil…