Merrill Lock No. 6th

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Contemporary view of the main structure

Merrill Lock No. 6 is the remainder of a historic lock and weir on the Ohio River in Industry , Pennsylvania in the United States . There is currently a restaurant in the preserved buildings. They are on the National Register of Historic Places .

Construction phase

The dam was built in the village of Merrill (now part of Borough Industry) near the mouth of Raccoon Creek and was part of the canalization of the Ohio River. Construction began on June 2, 1892, several years before most of the other weirs on the river were tackled. At the end of 1903 the construction was almost finished. The missing lock gates were installed and the ancillary structures completed within a year. Operations began on August 3, 1904. The project had a total of 1,123,441.80 US dollars cost. The structure was named William Emery Merrill , an officer in the United States Army Corps of Engineers who was responsible for building the first permanent dam on the Ohio River in Pennsylvania.

Building details

Lock No. 6 was built of concrete and was 180 m long and 33 m wide. The first lock gates were made of pine , but were later replaced by steel gates . The lock is located at the northern end of the dam, which consists of a 201 m long flood relief , a weir and two other locks. There are also three buildings. The three-story machine house is a square building with a side length of about 18 m and housed the technical systems that were necessary to operate the lock. Two identical-looking two-and-a-half-story houses were used to accommodate the lock keeper and the other operating personnel. All three buildings were built from bricks on a concrete foundation and have a slate roof .

At the beginning of the 1920s, the drive machines of the lock system were converted from coal to oil firing. This change only affected the interior of the building; the outside area was not affected.

Shutdown

Photography from the early days of the facility

After the Montgomery Lock and Dam was built further downstream in 1936 , the lock system ceased operations. Because of the historical integrity of the complex, the neo-Romanesque- style buildings were entered in the National Register of Historic Places on September 4, 1980. At this point in time, the structures had been abandoned for almost 45 years, but were still in their original condition, which makes the facility unique. The lock keeper's house was later removed. After a reconstruction, an inn called Lock 6 Landing was opened in the former machine house in early 2000 . The location on the river enables the operation of a marina for recreational shipping.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Joseph H. Bausman: History of Beaver County Pennsylvania and Its Centennial Celebration . Knickerbocker, New York City 1904, p. 248–250 (English, google.com [accessed April 19, 2009]).
  2. ↑ a b c d National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form ( www.dot7.state.pa.us ( Memento from April 16, 2014 in the Internet Archive ))
  3. ^ Improving Transportation. (No longer available online.) United States Army Corps of Engineers , archived from the original on March 30, 2009 ; accessed on April 9, 2009 .
  4. ↑ Woodene Merriman: It's a lock: Restaurant adds new patios to distinctive site and special menu. In: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette . May 26, 2000, accessed April 9, 2009 .

Web links

Commons : Merrill Lock No. 6  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 40 ° 40 ′ 7 ″  N , 80 ° 21 ′ 6 ″  W.