Carvin's Cove reservoir was built over a Virginia Ghost Town

Carvins Cove was once a thriving communityPhoto byTrip Advisor scrfeenshot

Carvins Cove was once a thriving community

Carvins Cove reservoir is in both Botetourt and Roanoke Counties and is the Western Virginia Water Authority's primary source of water for 130,000 customers. The land underneath the reservoir was once a thriving community and during droughts when the shoreline recedes, remnants of the past can be seen.

William Carvin was the first community settler to the area that once included the Rocky Branch School, Cove Alum Baptist Church, the Cove Alum Springs resort hotel, the Tuck-Away Park amusement park and at least 60 homes.

The demise of the community began in the 1920s when The Virginia Water Company decided to build a dam. By 1942 Roanoke City had purchased the water compan, the residents were gone and the final buildings wree auctioned off. Carvins Cove is now considered an abandoned Virginia Ghost Town.