About this property
The Meeker Island Lock and Dam (originally known as Lock and Dam No. 2) was the first lock and dam facility built on the Upper Mississippi River. Meeker Island was named after its owner, Judge Bradley B. Meeker, whom Meeker County is also named after. Following a construction period lasting eight years, the site was only in operation from 1907 to 1912 when the growing interest in hydroelectric power led to design and construction of today's Lock and Dam No. 1 a few miles downriver. It was realized that the new dam could take over the function provided by this first site and another small dam a short distance downriver. Lock and Dam No. 1 opened in 1917, and a hydroelectric plant was added there in the 1920s to power the Ford Motor Company's Twin Cities Assembly Plant. The Meeker Island dam was demolished, although some ruins of the lock remain. Tops of the old lock walls become visible during low water periods on the river. It is located in the Desnoyer Park neighborhood, north of the Lake Street-Marshall Bridge connecting Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota. The Meeker Island Lock and Dam ruins were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2003. Each year, National Park Service historian Dr. John Anfinson and the Friends of the Mississippi River lead a tour of the lock and dam ruins. In 2005 a $380,000 restoration project began to create a public park near the dam. It was finished in 2007. The historic dam site and off-leash dog park are part of the Mississippi River Gorge Regional Park.
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Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).
Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Everything a full report reveals about Lock and Dam No. 2
This page lists Lock and Dam No. 2. A full Aubrey report for an address near it pulls together this listing alongside battlefield records, land patents, and every other historical record within a chosen radius:
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Questions about this property
When was Lock and Dam No. 2 listed on the National Register?
Lock and Dam No. 2 was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on June 12, 2003.
What type of historic resource is Lock and Dam No. 2?
Lock and Dam No. 2 is classified as a site in the National Register of Historic Places.
What is the period of significance for Lock and Dam No. 2?
The period of significance for Lock and Dam No. 2 is recorded as the civil_war era, specifically around 1927.
Can I research the history near Lock and Dam No. 2?
Yes. Aubrey Research reports search National Register listings, battlefield records, land patents, and other primary historical sources within any radius of a US address. A report for an address near Lock and Dam No. 2 will include this listing and all other historical records in the area.
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