Riverton Lock, also known as the Colbert Shoals Lock, was the entrance to Colbert Shoals Canal, a low water alternative route around Colbert and Bee Tree Shoals on the

Tennessee River The Tennessee River is the largest tributary of the Ohio River. It is approximately long and is located in the southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley. The river was once popularly known as the Cherokee River, among other name ...

History

The first major upstream landing on the

after leaving

Paducah, Kentucky Paducah ( ) is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of McCracken County, Kentucky. The largest city in the Jackson Purchase region, it is located at the confluence of the Tennessee and the Ohio rivers, halfway between St. Louis, Miss ...

, was Riverton, a former town site in

Colbert County, Alabama Colbert County () is a county located in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Alabama. As of the 2020 census the county's population was 57,227. The county seat is Tuscumbia. The largest city is Muscle Shoals. The county is named ...

. Riverton was located on the east side of the junction of the

and Bear Creek, across Bear Creek from Eastport. Colbert and Bee Tree Shoals were immediately up river from Riverton and prevented major river traffic between Riverton and

Florence, Alabama Florence is a city in, and the county seat of, Lauderdale County, Alabama, United States, in the state's northwestern corner. It is situated along the Tennessee River and is home to the University of North Alabama, the oldest college in the ...

, for six months of the dry season. In the late 1890s

Muscle Shoals Canal Skeletal muscles (commonly referred to as muscles) are Organ (biology), organs of the vertebrate muscular system and typically are attached by tendons to bones of a skeleton. The muscle cells of skeletal muscles are much longer than in the other ...

was nearing completion; this traversed the other major shoals above Florence, Alabama, and

Chattanooga, Tennessee Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia, it also extends into Marion County on its western end. With a population of 181,099 in 2020 ...

. In 1891, George Washington Goethals, an engineer and US Army officer, was promoted to captain and was assigned the oversight of completing Muscle Shoals Canal. Goethals developed a design for a single high

lift lock A boat lift, ship lift, or lift lock is a machine for transporting boats between water at two different elevations, and is an alternative to the canal lock. It may be vertically moving, like the Anderton boat lift in England, rotational, like ...

to be located at the downstream end of Colbert Shoals canal at Riverton. Goethals was successful in convincing the Army Corps of Engineers that the high lift lock was feasible and was eventually given the approval for its construction.''The Panama Canal - an army's enterprise''
p14, Center of Military History, United States Army Riverton Lock began operation on November 11, 1911, and at its completion was the highest lift lock in the world. Completed dimensions are wide and inside the miter sills with a lift of .Congressional Series of United States Public Document, Volume 6206 page 107) (62D Congress:: 2nd Session:: December 4, 1911:: August 26, 1912 :: House Documents Volume 24 After the success Goethals had with the design and construction of Riverton Lock, he was transferred to Panama and given the responsibility of designing and constructing the

Panama Canal The Panama Canal ( es, Canal de Panamá, link=no) is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a condui ...

. Many of the principles developed at Riverton Lock were applied to the Panama Locks. Goethals later became the first Governor of the

Panama Canal Zone The Panama Canal Zone ( es, Zona del Canal de Panamá), also simply known as the Canal Zone, was an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the Isthmus of Panama, that existed from 1903 to 1979. It was located within the ter ...

. Riverton Lock was flooded when

Pickwick Landing Dam Pickwick Landing Dam is a hydroelectric dam on the Tennessee River in Hardin County, in the U.S. state of Tennessee. The dam is one of nine dams on the river owned and operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority, which built the dam in the 1930s a ...

was completed on February 8, 1938."Drowned towns: What traces of 'ghost' cities lie beneath Alabama's man-made lakes?"
page at al.com

References

{{Reflist, 30em

External links

* Map sources: . Google aerial photo shows some ruined buildings in the lake at this point which are very likely to be buildings associated with the lock.

with map and several photos 1911 establishments in Alabama Locks of Alabama Tennessee River Transportation buildings and structures in Colbert County, Alabama