Saturday, December 19, 2009

A Short History of the McHenry Dam in Illinois

The last entry, I mentioned that the present dam was built in 1939 by the Civilian Conservation Corps.

This is the only dam served by a lock system on the Fox River system. We've been through the locks many times during our boating downriver. You don't want to do go through them on the weekends because of the long lines since they can only get four boats max through at a time, and even less with the larger boats and pontoons.

Grabbing the scuzzy green ropes to hold your boat in place is not much fun and usually leads to arguments as to who has to hold them. You definitely don't want to tie it off for obvious reasons.

Some important dates pertaining to the dam:

1907-- permanent wooden dam built

1939-- present dam built by CCC

1960-- Present locks open

1977-- renamed William G. Stratton Lock and Dam after Illinois' governor and local resident who was a major proponent of the dam.

Thanks to Gill's for giving this information.

Sticky Green Ropes. Yuck!! The Captain SHOULDN'T Have to Hold One!! --DaCoot

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