| The original
dam was constructed in 1855 by the Fredericksburg Water Power Company.
This dam was constructed of wood and located approximately 60 feet upstream
from the current dam. The old dam (still visible under the water) was built
on property purchased from the Rappahannock Navigation Company canal system
in the early 1850's. This canal was converted to use water power and provided
about 5,000 horsepower of water power to the city. A stone lock was located
on the south end of the dam for boat passage. The original dam stood
18 feet tall and when the water is clear, parts of it can still be seen.
Construction of the current
dam was completed in August of 1909. This dam stands 22' high and provided
about 8,000 horsepower of water power to the city. The power plant and
canal have since been shut down and the canal no longer runs to the old
power plant. Around 1910, the Fredericksburg Water Power Company was purchased
and renamed the Spotsylvania Water Power Company.
Today the dam still stands,
but water is no longer actively diverted into the canal
system (the last time the water was regularly diverted to the canal
was in the early 1960's). The canal runs just under 3 miles and starts
at the Fredericksburg side of the dam and ends at Princess Anne street.
If you drive down Ford street today, you are driving what use to be the
outlet for the canal system. At one end of Ford street is a lock the ends
the canal, and the other end is the remains of the old Virginia
Electric and Power Company's Embrey Power Station (originally named
Spotsylvania Water Power Company Power House Number 1). The Spotsylvania
Water Power Company was noted for providing the city with "the lowest rates
for electric lights, heat and power on the Atlantic Seaboard, from Maine
to Florida."
The dam is scheduled to be
destroyed in the near future. This will make the Rappahannock a "free flowing"
river once again. Embrey is the only dam still in existence on the Rappahannock,
which flows for 185 miles from the Blue Ridge Mountains to the Chesapeake
Bay.
(photo of Embrey Dam taken
from Fredericksburg side)
The Embrey Dam is downstream
from the I-95 bridge over
the Rappahannock River.
(Photo by Robert A. Martin/The Free Lance-Star)
Lauck's Island is at the
bottom of the photo.
More photos of the Dam here
and here.
The Friends
of the Rappahannock (F.O.R) has a web site and has a awesome print
of a photo taken from inside the dam, yes, I did say inside. This is a
must see photo (by F.O.R member Tom Van Arsdall) and you can see
it at http://for.communitypoint.org/
Directions:
Take Jefferson Davis Hwy. to Fall Hill Ave. Before you get to the bridge that crosses the Rappahannock Canal, there is a small parking lot. The dam is walking distance from there. (Please note that access to the Dam is restricted.)
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