Site submitted by: Eric Hart
River Mile 850.30 — Left Descending Bank
By the early 1890s, the Army Corps of Engineers had devised a plan to build two low dams with locks which would raise the level of the River sufficiently to make navigation up to St. Anthony Falls possible. One dam would be near Meeker Island (just south of the Short Line railroad bridge) and the other near the mouth of Minnehaha Creek which was known as Lock and Dam No. 1. Construction on the Meeker Island Lock and Dam started in 1898 and took nearly a decade to complete. It was completed in 1907 and only operated for 5 years before the top 5 feet was demolished in 1912 to make navigation safe after the new high dam was completed to the south. The lock is still visible during low water on the Saint Paul side, but the bear trap gates on the Minneapolis side of the River (used to send logs down the river), have all but disappeared under the white sand dredge spoils that are deposited there. In 2006-2007 improvements were made to the Saint Paul side of the Lock and Dam, improving access and installing amenities such as picnic tables and benches (Anfinson, John 1995).
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