1960–1966, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Huntington District). Gauley River. WV 129, 2 miles west of intersection with U.S. 19
Dams built by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers usually are named after the nearest community. The closest community to the site of this project was named Gad. After due deliberation, officials decided this was an unacceptable prefix for dam. Summersville was deemed close enough, and both the gently curved dam and the lake it created were named for it. Dedicated by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1966, it is one of the world's largest earthen dams, measuring 390 feet high and 2,280 feet long. Built mostly of rock filled with an impervious core, the dam impounds a lake with more than sixty miles of shoreline. Route 129 crosses the dam and provides good views of it.