Upper Mississippi River 9-Foot Channel Project, Lock & Dam No. 7, Dresbach, Winona County, MN
Summary
Significance: The Upper Mississippi River Lock and Dam Project represents one of the largest and most ambitious of such undertakings. With root in the Progressive Era, the project was adopted by New Deal proponents to serve the needs of public employment during the Great Depression. Its successful completion turned the upper reaches of one of the world's largest rivers, the Mississippi River, into a intra-continental canal and settled the question of a fully navigable interior river system through the Midwest. Completion of the system helped allay economic inequities in commercial rail and water freight rates brought about as a result of the opening of the Panama Canal. Although significantly altering the environment of the upper Mississippi, the project also served as an impetus for the upgrading of municipal drinking water and sewage disposal systems, as well as providing new recreational opportunities, thus, in the end, proving generally beneficial to public welfare.
Survey number: HAER MN-24
Building/structure dates: 1933-1940 Initial Construction
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