Traveling across the White River on 16th St. you would be forgiven if you did not notice a large dam just south of the bridge. The dam itself is difficult to see from the bridge. The best vantage point is actually from the White River Trail which runs atop the levee on the east side of the river.
The photo from Google Streetview doesn't really do justice to the dam, or its size, although this video gives a nice view. But if you haven't seen the dam, you kind of missed your chance. Since now, its gone.
But more on that in a minute. First a bit of background. Construction on the dam south of 16th St. began in 1899, not so much as a tool of flood control, but as a component of then burgeoning plan for Riverside Park, which would later be a component in George Kessler's overall park and bouelvard plan for the city. The dam itself spanned the entire length of the river, and was anchored on each shore with castle like (also known as "crenelated") abutments. The image below shows the plan for the dam from early 1899. The castle appearance of the abutment is obvious.
The dam also had emergency spillways on the outside of each abutment, and alrge sluice way pipes that ran under the abutments (visible in the plan above, and in images later in this post). Media reports not long after the dam's construction noted that the sluice gates could be opened to allow excess water through the dam, and to control the waterlevels upstream from the dam. The dam is a low head dam, meaning that the river still flows over the top of the dam. Per the Department of Natural Resources, which has an informative webpage and tracking map for these dams, the 16th St. dam is 10 feet high.
Completed by 1901, the dam was intended to pool the river north of the dam in order to provide opportunities for recreation and boating. And it was successful in this mission. The river north of present day 16th St. was widened and deepened thanks to the dam. This area was dubbed 'Lake Indianapolis,' and while the plans for Riverside Park languished (some modern efforts are in the works now), boating and even water skiing in this stretch of river north to 38th St. was common. In fact, there is a large boat ramp at Riverside Park called the Lake Indy Boat Ramp.
The dam has gone by several names over the course of the past 115 years. Many call it the 16th St. dam, resulting from its position adjacent to 16th St. Due to its proximity to Riverside Park, old sources often referred to the dam as the Riverside Park Dam. Another common name was the Emrichsville Dam. This name stemmed from the name for this part of the city, which was rooted in the Emrick family (yeah, spelling is a bit off), whose members owned land around the area of the 16th St. bridge, on both side of the river. (to read a blog posting about the beautiful, and now long defunct Emrichsville Bridge, check out this post from Historic Indianapolis).
The site of the Emrichsville Dam also had a connection to one of the first families of Indianapolis, the McCormick's. The McCormick family were some of the first settlers in present day downtown (although there was a long running debate with the Pogue family on this point), and the site of their original cabin is marked by a memorial in White River State Park. Not long after moving to Indianapolis, Samuel McCormick, one of three McCormick brothers, moved north out of still small settlement of Indianapolis, and in 1827 built a brick home on the western shore of the White River, adjacent to the present site of the Emrichsville Dam. While the home survived the construction of the dam, subsequent work on the western abutment in 1914 resulted in the razing of the home. The Indianapolis News reported on this, noting the failed effort to preserve the structure, but "[o]nly a few scattered bricks remain to mark its location."
But back to the dam being gone.
Early on October 9, 2018, several Twitter posting noted that the level of the White River as viewed from 16th St. seemed very low. Despite some early speculation from a local radio news station that the drop in water was related to the under construction Deep Rock Tunnel, the real cause was a breach in the Emrichsville Dam near the western abutment. The city, Citizens Energy, and the DNR were addressing the breach, and by the time I visited the site the following weekend, a temporary repair was in place, with a large amount of stone and gravel placed in the breach. The river level upstream had returned to its pre-break level.
This wasn't the first time the Emrichsville Dam had been breached. In 1908, not long after its construction, the river undercut the middle of the dam and caused a breach. While no threat to drinking water supply or property downstream, the drop in water was a concern to those who had rights to water based business at Riverside Park.
Another breach in the Emrichsville Dam occurred in 1964, following a large flood in April of that year. The Star's article on the breach noted that the dam had been built to create a "boating area" for Riverside Park:
No doubt other breaches occurred on the dam throughout its history. However, it should be noted that the dam did survive the great flood of 1913. Despite news reports that the dam was in "bad shape" prior to the flood, the Indianapolis News reported on March 28, 1913, that the dam had survived "much to the surprise of all who knew of its weakened condition." Apparently the flood waters flowed around the abutments of the dam, in addition to over the crest of the dam.
This past Thanksgiving Day I was taking a traditional morning bike ride around the city. From my home near Butler I rode down the Tow Path and connected to the White River Trail at the Naval Armory next to the 30th St. bridge over the river. I stopped to look up stream towards the Art Museum and found the water much lower than normal, with several large sand bar islands replacing the normally wide river channel. I suspected the Emrichsville Dam had once again breached. Upon riding farther south, I found that I was partially right. In fact, the dam is gone.
The dam as it was has been mostly demolished and the structure has been reduced to form a kind of rapids section which covers the 10 foot drop of the old dam (there is a similar dam on the river downtown near the site of the GM plant). Additionally, while the castle abutment on the eastern shore (and its spillway) still stand, the same structure on the western shore appears to have been mostly removed. I had heard a rumor last month that there was discussion to remove the dam, as it had outlived its usefulness. No doubt something will remain of the old structure, likely similar to its current state, where it will still play some role as a dam.
Either way, the city has a lost a historical structure, albeit one that may not have been well known, which stood for well over 100 years and had a significant impact on how the citizens of Indianapolis have used the White River. Interestingly, a new Master Plan for Riverside Park was recently presented by the city, which includes a revitalization of the property in an effort to increase its usage. Part of this includes the use of the river for water recreation. We'll have to see how the developments with the dam will impact these plans.
Sources
Indianapolis Star: April 25, 1964
Indianapolis News: August 26, 1899, October 17, 1899, July 30, 1901, March 25, 1913, May 9, 1914
Indy Parks Collection, Ball State University. University Libraries. Andrew Seager Archives of the Built Environment, https://dmr.bsu.edu/digital/collection/IndplsPDArc
Sadly, Indianapolis allotted funds for the dam's construction, but not for sufficient repairs or maintenance over the years as evidenced by multiple major breaches and city reports that there were no funds available to fix it unless taxes were raised. At one point, several local wealthy businessmen threatened to sue the city to repair the dam before the water level drop hurt Riverside's boating-heavy businesses. The city had sublet river privileges to waterfront boating/tourist businesses, but did not provide a functional Lake Indy water level as agreed. By the time of the most recent breach a few years ago, the dam had no more wealthy waterway supporters, just concerned Riverside residents (my family among them). Contrary to citizen feedback, the…
A retaining wall on the west bank just south of the dam gave way on the night of June 20, 1927, killing an extended family member Alfred Bollman who was stooped over looking for minnows. His brother-in-law and five-year-old nephew were able to run away when their friends on the dam heard a grinding noise and shouted a warning. They thought perhaps Alfred hadn't heard the call. See ''The Republic'' (Columbus, Indiana), Tuesday, June 21, 1927, page 1. https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-republic/35517034/
Thanks for the good read. I didn't realize the dam was gone. I used to go there a couple times a year when I was in my 20s. More, some years. Always at night, we'd sit on top of the "castle", drink beer, walk out onto the walls, listen to the river, look at the stars... It was a beautiful place where you wouldn't expect it.
About once a year, I'd end up with at least one pant leg soaked to the knee from a misstep in the dark trying to re-find the best way to climb up. Of course, that changed with the water level.
Good times.
There's a ton of information about the dam and the park here:
Ed, I'm working on an article for Nuvo about the plan to replace the Emerichsville Dam, and I came upon your wonderful blog and this particular item. Would you consider letting me use one of the last two photos above for my article? Thanks, Bill Watts (wwatts@butler.edu)
Very interesting, Eddie -- you sure have sharp eyes.