Changing the River: Upper St. Anthony Falls Lock & Dam
Introduction
Text-to-speech Audio
Images
Constructing the Upper St. Anthony Falls Lock & Dam
Backstory and Context
Text-to-speech Audio
Creating the Lock
Minneapolis' government sought a new industry that could revitalize the riverfront as flour milling and related industries declined. They decided to bring commercial river navigation to the city. In 1937, US Congress authorized an extension of the 9-foot navigable channel above the falls and the lock, which was completed in 1963. The lock provided a mechanism for boats to navigate the falls.The Lock remained open until 2015 when it was closed to boat traffic.
The lock came at a significant cost. Located below the falls was Wita Wanagi (Spirit Island), part of what made Owamniyomni (also called St. Anthony Falls) a place of spiritual power for the Dakota. Accounts of the island describe a place of respite surrounded by the rush of water, with bald eagles nesting on the island and catching fish at the base of the waterfall. Spirit Island had been quarried by white colonists who had moved onto Dakota homeland and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers removed the island to accommodate boat traffic.
What's next for Upper St. Anthony Falls Lock and Dam?
Now that the lock is closed to boat traffic, community groups have ideas for what it might become. Some have suggested a visitor center and public space or maybe a space for art. Performances have already been projected onto the lock walls. Others wonder if the lock and other structures could be removed entirely, asking what might be possible if the river is returned to its natural state?
Sources
Carlson, Andrea. "On The Uncompromising Hand: Remembering Spirit Island."Open Rivers: Rethinking Water, Place, & Community, no. 9: 63 - 74. Published January 1st 2018. http://editions.lib.umn.edu/openrivers/article/ on-the-uncompromising-hand-remembering-spirit-island/.
Disposition Study, Upper St. Anthony Falls and Lock and Dam, Upper Mississippi River, US Army Corps of Engineers St. Paul District Website. March 16th 2016. Accessed July 18th 2020. https://www.mvp.usace.army.mil/Home/Projects/Article/692881/disposition-study-upper-and-lower-st-anthony-falls-and-lock-and-dam-1/.
"A History of Owamni Yomni: Lock Closures Signal Healing for Mississippi River," The Circle: Native American News and Arts. July 19th 2015. Accessed July 21st 2020. http://thecirclenews.org/cover-story/a-history-of-owamni-yomni-lock-closures-signal-healing-for-mississippi-river/.
Jones, Irene. "Locks and dam meetings draw a crowd," Friends of the Mississippi River. September 14th 2019. Accessed July 18th 2020. https://fmr.org/river-corridor-and-land-use-updates/locks-and-dam-meeting-draws-crowd.
Weber, Tom. Minneapolis: An Urban Biography. St. Paul, Minnesota. Minnesota Historical Society Press, 2020.
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