By 1912, with an increase interest in hydroelectric generation, there were six groups of entrepreneurs pursuing the right to build a dam at Cherokee Bluffs. James Mitchell, an engineer with financial ties to London, and Thomas Martin, an attorney from Montgomery, envisioned an integrated electrical system across the state and at the heart of that vision was Cherokee Bluffs. The two were able to gain funding to purchase small utilities around Alabama, including Alabama Power Company, a small company based out of Gadsden that was started in 1906 by William Patrick Lay.