Industrial History

Friday, September 11, 2026

1941 Mahoning Creek Dam on Mahoning Creek near Dayton, PA

(Satellite)

Patricia Hagaman, Nov 2020

USACE, Pittsburgh District posted

It's the Thursday before a holiday weekend, so here's some fun trivia about Mahoning Creek Lake for everyone:

- The dam is 162 feet tall and 926 feet long. It contains 342,210 cubic yards of concrete.

- It’s a concrete gravity dam, which is engineering shorthand for “being extremely heavy is on purpose.”

- The lake covers about 280 acres at normal summer pool. At full pool, it's 2,370 acres.

- Mahoning can store runoff equivalent to 4.09 inches of precipitation across its 340-square-mile drainage area.

- The dam was completed in 1941.

- Since completion, Mahoning Creek Dam has prevented an estimated more than $812 million in flood damages as of 2025 - on a $6 million construction budget.

- When it's not mitigating flood risk, the lake has other secondary benefits: boating, camping, hiking, and fishing for species including walleye, muskie, northern pike, channel catfish, crappie and bass.

Nada Quever, Jan 2026

Thursday, September 10, 2026

1834 Sharon Mills/Ford Village Factory on River Raisin upstream of Manchester, MI

(Satellite)

Street View, May 2023

This appears to be an exhibit about water power. On the left is a water wheel, in the middle is a Francis turbine and on the right is a Pelton wheel. The Francis turbine made the water wheel obsolete because it was more efficient. The Pelton wheel is used for high head, low flow dams. That is, the water has to be under high pressure.

12:29 video @ 1:20
Henry Ford's Hidden Power Plant

"Henry Ford virtually invented the GIANT factory, but at the same time, he evangelized tiny, water-powered micro-factories, which he called his Village Industries, and some of them still exist!

"Join me at Sharon Mills, Henry Ford's 13th Village Industries site, which started out as an 1834 Muley sawmill, then a grist mill, before turning into a water-powered auto parts factory in 1928 with the installation of a Francis water turbine. Today, it's home to the last, working, hydroelectric power plant for these Village Industry sites."

This village factory made cigar lighters and electrical switches.

Wednesday, September 9, 2026

I'm back. (I'm done for now because of a Google bug)

About 2:30pm on Sep 9, 2026, when I tried adding a photo to a post, it did not work. Blogger did the upload, but the photo never appeared in the post. I tried some things to work around the problem such as a different post, a different photo, deleting an existing photo in case I was at some unknown limit, a different browser, waiting a few hours, waiting several hours, etc. Nothing worked. So, I'm giving up for now. I'll do a test each day to see if the photo upload got fixed. When fixed, I'll resume posting.

Update: within 24 hours they fixed the bug. That bug was so bad that they had to fix it. It confirmed my theory that Google doesn't test new versions of their blog software.

Tuesday, September 8, 2026

1962 I-66+US-50 Theodore Roosevelt Bridge over Potomac River at Washington, DC

(Bridge Hunter; Historic Bridges; Satellite)

Boat View, Sep 2014

Metrotrails added
Theodore Roosevelt Bridge completed in 1964, over the Potomac River from the Rock Creek Trail, Washington DC.
Metrotrails shared

HistoricBridges
"This large bridge is noted for its arched, riveted girders which feature a pin and hanger cantilever design."

Several ramps are built over the river on the west end.

Trail View, Jan 2023

trbridge

The bridge is being rehabilitated.

trbridge

Monday, September 7, 2026

Miami & Erie Canal Lock #15, Canal Boat and Roller Mill in Tipp City, OH

Lock: (Satellite)

Boat: (Satellite)

Mill: (Satellite)

Miami & Erie Canal Overview

A lock means there is a grade separation of water so a mill next to it makes sense.

Street View, Oct 2016

4 of 8 photos posted by Tim Snyder with the comment: "Visited two locks from the Miami and Erie Canal. The first four photos are from Canal Lock Park in Huber Heights, OH. Sadly, the park has no historical markers for the casual visitor. The next four are from Canal Lock Park in Tipp City, OH, which did indeed have a historical marker that identified the lock as Lock Number 15 on the Miami and Erie Canal. Adjacent to the lock is what appears to be replica canal packet boat in need of maintenance."

Vivian Davis: Canal boat in Tipp is not a replica

Randy Westfall: In Miami co there are still lock 16 which is on private property

Lock 15 in Tipp

14 and 13 on the bike path between Troy and Tipp

12 was in Troy where Kettering hospital is now 11 would of been at eldean rd

Lock 10 was at Farington road 12-10 are no longer standing

Lock 9 Piqua

Lock 8 Johnston farm

7 landman mill road

6 just south of landman mill

The last five are just south of Miami County in lockington

There are still 8 standing in Miami co

4, cropped

The canal boat is behind the mill, and it appears they already did a lot of restoration work.

Street View, Oct 2016

TippRollerMill
The mill building is now a live-music event venue.

The railroad was the B&O/Cincinnati, Hamilton & Dayton.

1904/56 Dayton Quad @ 62,500

1897,1932,1999 Panther Hallow Road Bridge over Panther Hollow in Pittsburgh, PA

(Archived Bridge Hunter; Bridge Hunter; Historic Bridges; pghbridges; HAER; Satellite)

Schenley Bridge is a similar arch bridge that is a few blocks north of this one.

Postcard via BridgeHutner

"Significance: Schenley Park Bridge over Panther Hollow includes design elements from the City Beautiful movement while utilizing Pittsburgh's "native" industry: steel. An elegant three-hinged steel arch, the bridge is a contributing structure to Phipps Conservatory and the Schenley Park Historic District, both listed in the National Register of Historic Places. " [HAER_data]

Trail View, Jan 2024

HAER photo via HistoricBridges
This 640' (195m) long bridge has a main span of 260' (110m).
"This bridge is a very old and large example of steel arch technology, and is also a rare example of a three-hinged deck arch. Just as noteworthy are the bridge's stone arch approach spans. These feature the rare elliptical shape of stone arch."

A close up of the elliptical stone arches.

HAER PA,2-PITBU,77--2
2. Northern approach stone arch permits access to park in Panther Hollow below. - Schenley Park Bridge over Panther Hollow, Spanning Panther Hollow at Panther Hollow Road, Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, PA

Steel City History posted
PITTSBURGH, THEN AND NOW 🌉 This is the Panther Hollow Bridge in Schenley Park, photographed in the early 1900s spanning the wooded ravine near what's now Carnegie Mellon University. Fast forward to today: the bridge just reopened to vehicle traffic after being closed since October 2024 for safety repairs. Same span, same hollow, generations of Pittsburghers crossing it.

HAER photo via BridgeHunter
Steel City History posted
This c. 1900 photo shows Schenley Park's Panther Hollow Bridge, built in 1896 to blend City Beautiful design with Pittsburgh's own signature material: steel. The bridge still carries visitors across the ravine near Phipps Conservatory today.

2012 photo by Joseph via BridgeHunter

"The 'Panthers' by Giuseppe Moretti (1859-1935) provide the signature which easily distinguishes the pair of structures. A bronze mountain lion stands ready for the hunt at each corner of the Panther Hollow Bridge." [pghbridges]