National Register of Historic Places
Allegheny River Lock and Dam No. 4
Natrona, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania
The record
- Listed
- April 21, 2000
- Type
- Structure
- Address
- 1 River Ave., Natrona
- County
- Allegheny
- State
- Pennsylvania
- Period of significance
- 1900 to 1949
- Contributing resources
- 2 buildings, 3 structures
- Coordinates
- 40.61409, -79.71637
- Reference number
- 00000398
The story
Written by AI from this property's National Register nomination and the record above; every sentence is checked against its sources before it appears here. Corrections: privacy@treealive.com
The Allegheny River Lock and Dam No. 4 is a lock and dam in Natrona, Allegheny County, built from 1920 to 1927 in the Modern, or Moderne, style by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
Why it's listed
It was listed in the National Register in 2000 under criteria A and C (with consideration G), with state-level significance in transportation, maritime history, economics and engineering. Its significance runs from 1920 to 1948, reflecting construction of the lock and dam from 1920 to 1927.
Physical character
The concrete lock walls, some steel-armored, some brick, carry a rubber roof; the esplanade is concrete-paved with a rounded upstream end, and the gates are steel with a concrete miter sill. One building has a gambrel roof with a strip cornice and two external chimneys.
Historical context
Major Charles F. Powell proposed the lock in 1898; it opened on September 6, 1927, after construction began in 1920. The St. Patrick's Day flood of 1936 was followed by reconstruction of the south abutment in 1937 and 1938. Commercial barges and towboats used it from 1927; it sat vacant from 1980 to 1997, during which the powerhouse was pargeted in 1991.