Conewago Falls in

Lancaster County, Pennsylvania Lancaster County (; Pennsylvania Dutch: Lengeschder Kaundi), sometimes nicknamed the Garden Spot of America or Pennsylvania Dutch Country, is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in the south central part of Pennsylvania. ...

was a historic river barrier below and south of

Harrisburg Harrisburg is the capital city of the Pennsylvania, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the List of c ...

Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station (commonly abbreviated as TMI) is a closed nuclear power plant on Three Mile Island in Londonderry Township, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania on Lake Frederic, a reservoir in the Susquehanna River just s ...

at a wide spot (), where the river drops in along the lower

Susquehanna River The Susquehanna River (; Lenape: Siskëwahane) is a major river located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, overlapping between the lower Northeast and the Upland South. At long, it is the longest river on the East Coast of the ...

along either side of

Three Mile Island 3 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 3, three, or III may also refer to: * AD 3, the third year of the AD era * 3 BC, the third year before the AD era * March, the third month Books * ''Three of Them'' (Russian: ', literally, "three"), a 1901 ...

. The falls between the west bank and the west side of the island were inundated-by-design years ago by construction of the York Haven Dam which, when it was completed in 1904, for a time became the third largest in the world. Today the Falls hides inside the Frederic Lake reservoir along the west side of the island. The falls would often be portaged around by Native Americans with their elm bark canoes transiting between

Susquehannock The Susquehannock people, also called the Conestoga by some English settlers or Andastes were Iroquoian Native Americans who lived in areas adjacent to the Susquehanna River and its tributaries, ranging from its upper reaches in the southern p ...

(and later,

Iroquois The Iroquois ( or ), officially the Haudenosaunee ( meaning "people of the longhouse"), are an Iroquoian-speaking confederacy of First Nations peoples in northeast North America/ Turtle Island. They were known during the colonial years to ...

and

Lenape The Lenape (, , or Lenape , del, Lënapeyok) also called the Leni Lenape, Lenni Lenape and Delaware people, are an indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands, who live in the United States and Canada. Their historical territory includ ...

) Amerindian towns at points upriver to the Oyster beds in

Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula (including the parts: the ...

or vice versa. The Falls blocked riverine navigation on the

, and were one of the factors preventing barge or ship water transport from Baltimore and the

References

Map of York Haven Dam area
{{coord, 40.120425, -76.713568, type:waterbody_globe:earth_region:US-PA, display=title Landforms of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania Waterfalls of Pennsylvania Susquehanna River Dams completed in 1904 Energy infrastructure completed in 1904 Dams in Pennsylvania United States power company dams Crossings of the Susquehanna River Hydroelectric power plants in Pennsylvania Buildings and structures in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania Buildings and structures in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania Buildings and structures in York County, Pennsylvania Run-of-the-river power stations Dams on the Susquehanna River

See also

References