I was working the evening shift (4-12) during
the few weeks before they blew Lock and Dam #50 up.
On several occasions retired workers (men who had built the lock and dam in their teens in the late 1920's and retired lockmen) would come down to the reservation and just sit in their cars and reflect on the lock and dam.
I could see the bittersweet moments of time passing before their eyes. One moment the lock and dam exists and the next moment it does not exist.
The week that they blew up the lock I was transferred to Smithland Locks and Dam.
Bend in the Ohio River.
Middle left dark background is Illinois. Middle right light background is Kentucky.
Foreground is Kentucky
Upper guide wall before they blew it up and the photo below of it being blown up.
In the above photo, smoke and debris in the air are visible after the upper guide wall was blown up.
The dark land mass located on the left side of the photo
is Illinois; the light brown land mass in the background is Kentucky.
This area of the Ohio River was used as an old Indian river crossing and was used during the 1838 Trail of Tears' relocation of the Cherokee Indians while they were passing through Crittenden County, Kentucky.
To the right of the tree on the bank is where the old river community of Weston is located.
Prior to the construction of Lock and Dam 50, the Ohio River periodically dried up so that people were able to walk across the river between Kentucky and Illinois on a sandbar formed from the dark point of Illinois to Weston.
Along the Ohio River, there are many areas where the Cherokee
were marched across the river on their way to Oklahoma.
photos by Tommy Carter
Wicket Home Page
Lock and Dam 2007 Christmas Reunion at Newburgh Locks and Dam
Tom's Lock and Dam Stories
Tom's Lock and Dam Ice Photos
Lock and Dam 50 Highwater Photo
Lock and Dam 50 Photos and Stories
The Mississippi Queen at Lock 50
The Mississippi Queen Up Over the Pass at Dam 50
Lock and Dam 52 Photos and Stories
Weston Photos and Stories by Bonnie Gass
Blowing up Lock and Dam 50
Lock and Dam 50 Today
A Time to Dredge
Ohio River 3 Day Forecast
Lock 50 Today Video
Created by NARFE
Crittenden County Local Chapter 1373