NC · depth model

Fontana Lake

North Carolina's deepest lake, under the tallest dam east of the Mississippi.

12 inch$149Desk, bookshelf, hallway. The closing-gift size. · ≈ 2.2 lb 17 inch$249Over a sideboard or in a reading nook. · ≈ 4.4 lb 24 inch$399The over-the-mantel piece. Islands appear at this scale. · ≈ 8.8 lb 30 inch$599Statement wall. Two hangers, every town on the shore named. · ≈ 13.7 lb

Make it yours family name · a line of text · a star on your place

Family name on the title block A line under it Title block preview

Your place — a star and a name on the board

Add a laser-cut desk stand (12" and 17" only) +$29

Made to order in Waterford, PA. Ships in 7–10 days, free in the lower 48. Birch, 5 mm per layer, keyhole hanger built in. By ordering you agree to our terms — decorative art, not a navigational chart.

The layers of this board — each depth is engraved on its step

18 ft · first step
37 ft
55 ft
74 ft
92 ft
111 ft · bottom

111 ftmaximum depth

11.4square miles of water

6depth layers cut

710roads engraved on the 12"

24towns named

2.2 lbthe 12" on the wall (≈ 13.7 lb at 30")

The lake

About Fontana Lake

Fontana Lake was built during World War II, filling in 1944 when the Tennessee Valley Authority closed Fontana Dam on the Little Tennessee River to power aluminum production for the war effort. At 480 feet, Fontana is the tallest dam east of the Mississippi, and the lake behind it is North Carolina's deepest, at up to 440 feet. Filling it meant flooding several communities and displacing more than a thousand families; the road promised to replace the one lost still stops after six miles at a tunnel locals call the Road to Nowhere. Bryson City is the gateway to the lake and the Smokies beyond it.

On the board

24 shore towns named, with a star on each
710 roads engraved around the shore, 0 of them labeled
6 depth layers, each step engraved with its depth in feet
Compass rose, title block with coordinates, max depth and area; keyhole hanger on the back

Why we cut this one

Fontana Lake is one of the lakes people ask us for by name — the kind of shoreline where the house has a name and the dock has a history. This board is cut from the same depth grid the configurator uses for all 104,419 lakes, so the shape is the real one.