Davis Island Lock & Dam
N 40° 29.637 W 080° 03.857
17T E 579294 N 4483003
The category's equivalent of a lamp post micro. There's nothing to see here except an Eat 'N Park. There used to be a lock and dam nearby. Hooray for that.
Waymark Code: WM8GY
Location: Pennsylvania, United States
Date Posted: 03/07/2006
Views: 46
Here's a picture of the Davis Island Lock and Dam, which is far more interesting than the location of the historic marker that commemorates the very first dam on the Ohio River. I drive past this marker each day on my commute. It's always bugged me to see a historic marker next to a restaurant parking lot, with absolutely nothing to see. Finally I stopped to take the required photos. I walked to the back of the parking lot to take pictures of the river from this spot. You can see the West End Water Authority's sewage treatment plant from here! Woo hoo. I resisted the urge to place a keyholder on the guardrail.
Anyways, locks and dams are important things in Pittsburgh's history. Prior to the interstates, before the railroads, the rivers were the highways, and the locks made them navigable by creating pools. This area is called the "Emsworth Pool," named after the Emsworth Dam.
Here is the Marker Text:
"Below this bridge was the first lock and dam built (1878-1885) on the Ohio River. This was the world's largest movable dam yet constructed, and included the world's first rolling lock gate and widest lock chamber. Built and operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; replaced by the nearby Emsworth Locks and Dams in 1922."