Muskingum Locks, dams opened door to expansion
The outer lock wall of Devola's Dam.
By Tom Hrach
The Marietta Times
Southeast Ohio owes its history to water, and the biggest stretch of it is the Muskingum River.
Before railroads or highways or airports, it was the water of the Muskingum River that connected the communities of southeast Ohio with each other and the rest of the world.
The history of southeast Ohio is the history of the Muskingum River. Taming the waters of the Muskingum was the first key step in building the history of southeast Ohio, and it was the reason the historic hand-operated lock and dam system on the river was built.
To understand the history of the lock and dam system, a person must understand the history of water in southeast Ohio. Water was how people got around in the late 1700s. It was no accident the flat boat containing Rufus Putnam and Marietta’s original 48 pioneers stopped at the Muskingum River in 1788.
Ohio River Benchmarks, Current level
During a flood, benchmarks are the point at which an area goes underwater.
Marietta
East side benchmarks
32.6 feet: Hart Street at Eighth Street
33.
River served as an early superhighway
The site now known as Marietta was selected by The Ohio Company to be the first settlement in the Northwest Territory in 1788 because of its location along the Ohio River at the mouth of the Muskingum.
» Full StoryRivers are an important part of the Valley
Marietta is located at the confluence of the Ohio and Muskingum rivers, two of the largest and most historic waterways in the Midwest. The community owes its history, its beauty and its economy to these two rivers.
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