Lewis and Clark - Washington, MO
Posted by: 
YoSam.
N 38° 33.649 W 091° 00.751
15S E 673166 N 4269914
The Corps of Discovery had a big influence on this town...this sign is big enough, and high enough to be seen from across the river, and more important, from any one ON the river...
Waymark Code: WM12ZFB
Location: Missouri, United States
Date Posted: 08/14/2020
Published By:
RB2
Views: 0
County of building: Franklin County
Location of building: W. Front St., behind bank building, Washington
Built: 1910
Classified: 2
Original Occupant: Washington Flour Mill Company
District Map
On May 24 and 25, 1804, the Lewis and Clark Expedition was in the vicinity of present-day Washington. At South Point (the southernmost point on the Missouri River), three miles east of Washington, one of the most harrowing incidents in the early phase of the journey occurred. Here, on May 24, they had a frightening brush with disaster, and in the process learned the limitations of the large keelboat that was the main vessel of the expedition flotilla. William Clark described South Point as a "Verry bad part of the river." The expedition experienced why the Missouri was the most dreaded of all great western rivers for navigators.
To avoid a narrow channel with collapsing banks on the south side of the river, the flotilla attempted to go around the north side of an island. Here, they found that the water was swift, shallow and shifting sandbars. The crew tried to tow the boat through this stretch with a cordelling rope, but the keelboat soon ran aground on a shifting sandbar. The powerful current pressed against the now helpless boat, and the tow rope snapped, causing the boat to turn broadside to the current and list to one side. The crew members jumped into the river and managed to hold the boat upright until the moving sands washed out from under it. This drama was repeated twice more, as the boat again grounded and wheeled. Finally, a line was fixed to its stern and the boat was worked into safer waters.
A shaken Clark wrote in his journal that evening that "nothing saved her [the keelboat] but..." He left the sentence unfinished. Clark characterized this stretch, which he called "Retrograde Bend," as the "worst ever saw." This "worst ever saw" list would be revised several times in the coming weeks.
After returning to the south side of the river and working the boat through the narrow chute they had avoided in the first attempt, the exhausted crew camped at an "old house" a few miles below present-day Washington, Mo.
Sign Text: LEWIS & CLARK
Compliments of Hazel Concepts & US Bank
Installed & Printed by Ziglin Graphics & Sign
"Industrial . circa 1865-1935, Coded 2
The articulation of the twelve industrial buildings generally follows
materials, forms and detailing of commercial/residential properties
dating to the same period of construction. ... and four
reinforced concrete storage bins behind 217-19 W. Main (Photo 830) also
are included in the industrial group, ... " ~ NRHP Nomination Form
"Although wheat had not been the earliest profitable cash crop in
Franklin county, by the early 1870s Washington had two large steam
flour mills running. ... Four reinforced concrete wheat bins
(Photo 830) were constructed circa 1910 by the town's largest mill, the
Washington Flour Mill Company, which had a daily production capacity of
400 bushels. The bins were located behind the mill (destroyed by fire
in more recent history) in City Block 32." ~ NRHP Nomination Form, PDF page 21