Muskingum River Lock No. 10 is a lock along the Muskingum River in Zanesville, Ohio.
Muskingum River Lock No. 10 is a lock along the Muskingum River in Zanesville, Ohio. It is located at river mile 76.6 and was built to bypass the rapids near the Y Bridge. The associated canal was 50 feet wide and 0.8 miles long, beginning about 200 feet upstream from the east span of the Y Bridge. At the head of the canal was a manually operated wooden control gate built around sandstone abutments; it is no longer in use.
History
Military expeditions first entered the Muskingum River watershed during the 18th century. 1 Marietta, the first permanent American settlement in Ohio, was founded in 1788, and Zanesville was settled eleven years later after new trails were opened into the region. The area’s rich natural resources encouraged rapid growth, further aided by the extension of Ohio’s canal system into the region in 1825.
In 1836, the Ohio General Assembly authorized a navigable waterway from Marietta to Dresden, about twenty miles upriver from Zanesville. 1 That system, completed in 1841, consisted of a series of locks, dams, and lateral canals. Lock and Dam No. 10 and its lateral canal at Zanesville were completed that same year at a cost of $228,000. The lock was built by Josiah Spaulding, and the overall Zanesville project was supervised by civil engineer David Bates.
The lock itself stands about 250 feet south of the lockhouse and was built of sandstone blocks laid in a regular ashlar pattern. 1 It has one chamber measuring 156.5 feet long at one end and 158.5 feet at the other, with a width of 35.4 feet. Its gates were wooden with iron framing, operated by hand. The lock has a navigable depth of 6.30 feet and a lift of 16 feet.
Commercial navigation on the Muskingum River flourished before the arrival of the railroad in 1857. 1 Even so, river traffic had already begun to decline by 1848, and by the late 1850s, commercial use had nearly disappeared. From 1861 to 1878, the system was leased to the Lessees of the Public Works, a private concern that oversaw its operation. Repair work completed in 1887 cost $127,000. In 1886, the federal government assumed control of the system and, in 1891, rebuilt all but one of the locks and dams.
During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, riverboat traffic on the Muskingum again became heavy, supported by the canal and lock system. 1 The March 1913 flood destroyed or damaged much of the infrastructure spanning the canal, and all of the bridges except the Y Bridge were rebuilt afterward. Four bridges crossed the canal: a Baltimore & Ohio Railroad rolling lift bridge with 12 feet of clearance above the canal pool; the Y Bridge, whose lift span is no longer functional; another railroad bridge with a swing span; and the Sixth Street Bridge, which had a rolling lift span. Additionally, the lockhouse at No. 10, a three-story structure of simulated stone concrete block, was rebuilt.
The last passenger steamer voyage through the system was made in 1922. 1 Commerce continued to increase until 1943, when the exhaustion of major coal seams in the region contributed to its decline. The original dam, which had an unprotected timber cap, was later washed away and rebuilt in 1952. Although commercial transportation on the river has disappeared, Lock No. 10 and its canal long remained important for recreational boating, accommodating hundreds of pleasure craft during the warmer months.
The towpath along the canal was once privately owned and included various industrial and commercial enterprises. 1 It is now owned by the State of Ohio and serves as a linear park.
Gallery
Details
- State: Ohio
- Route: N/A
- Status: Active (Other)
- Type: Lock
Sources
- Taylor, David L. Muskingum River Lock #10 and Canal. National Register of Historic Places Inventory—Nomination Form, United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service, 4 Oct. 1977.