La Follette Public Works and La Follette Fire Department crews have extra work on Monday

Here are before and after photos of the backed up stream. The top photo was taken after a good amount of dammed up water had been pumped away. The photo below was taken after the dam had been cleared away.

LAFOLLETTE, TN (WLAF)- Beavers recently built a dam of the stream that emerges from the cave next to the La Follette House. The dam was at the culvert that goes under South Indiana Avenue. The stream, when not damned, flows out into Big Creek (Ollis Creek).

Water being pumped away from the beavers dam by LFD Firefighters.

Over the past couple of weeks, the beavers were relocated so the dam could be taken out, according to Casey Boshears, Director of La Follette Public Works.

Starting Monday morning, La Follette Public Works and La Follette Fire Department crews spent several hours taking out the dam. Firefighters pumped the water the dam had backed up away from the dam so they could easier access the structure.

It took the better part of three hours to move out enough water to make contact with the dam.

After the bulk of the water was pumped away, one crew member went into the culvert to remove the big portions of the dam. “After the big stuff was out of the way, we used water pressure to completely clean the rest of the dam away,” said LFD Chief Jimmy Pack.

The stream comes out of this cave and flows to Big Creek.

Crews cleared the scene around 1:30 Monday afternoon.

Here is a look from the cave to the culvert under South Indiana Avenue.

(WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED-03/03/2026-6AM)

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