o Parks and the Metro Historic Commission saw when they placed Lock 2 Park on a priority list for receiving a historic marker.
Jeff Syracuse, the Metro Council member representing district 15, in which the park lies, said it is a unique place that continues to be appreciated by those living nearby.
“This park here is a very special place to a lot of neighbors,” Syracuse said. “It’s a very special partnership between Metro Parks and the Corps of Engineers.”
Lt. Col. Sonny Avichal, Nashville Engineer District commander, pointed out that it was the desire to make the Cumberland River navigable that led to the formation of the Corps district in 1888.
“There was a huge desire and a need to transport goods and commerce up and down the river,” he said.
By the end of June 1889, the site of Lock and Dam No. 2 and the lock keeper’s house had been approved by the chief of Engineers, and negotiations were in progress for the purchase of the land at “Becks Ripple,” about 12 miles upriver from Nashville, said Lee Roberts, public affairs specialist with the Nashville Engineer District. In 1891, however, excavation revealed that suitable bedrock foundation at the site did not exist at a consistent depth, leading to the selection of another site.
In March 1894, the Corps decided to construct Lock 2 at its eventual site, about 1-1/2 miles below the one originally considered. Construction began in late April of that year.
By the end of June 1906, the filling valves and maneuvering appliances had been placed in the lock, Roberts said.
An unusually high stage of water in the river and a lack of labor delayed the installation of the lock gates until November. Construction of the dam began August 13, 1906. The Corps completed the dam and put the lock into operation October 9, 1907.
“These old locks at first were entirely manually operated,” Roberts said. “It took three or four guys to open gates and to fill or empty the water out of the locks with the valves. At some point they did get some mechanical help with that.”
The lock reservation itself was a small community, complete with kitchen, dining room and blacksmith shop, along with quarters for the men who worked there.
Over time, the vessels hauling goods up and down the river got bigger and bigger, and tows had to be split, taking up valuable time and resources. As the new locks and dams went into service, the old ones were demolished.
“All of those locks are long gone, and the river itself is much wider and deeper than anybody had originally ever thought of as ships got larger and larger,” Avichal said.
Pennington Bend is now part of the pool created by Cheatham Lock and Dam in Ashland City, west of Nashville.
Avichal pointed out the importance of the partnerships that have made the Corps’ missions, including that of creating locks and dams for navigation, flood control and hydropower generation, successful ones. As with placing the marker, he said, the Corps will continue to work in partnership with communities along the rivers, find ways to celebrate the past and continue to prepare for the future.
Lock 2 Park now also commemorates these accomplishments with the words on the historic marker, unveiled at the conclusion of the ceremony, which was open to in-person guests as well as broadcast online to a wider audience. The marker reads, “In 1888, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers sought to make water travel on the Cumberland River easier by regulating water levels with a series of dams and locks. Construction on Lock 2 began in 1892, and the lock and dam were finished in 1907. The project ended in 1924 with only 15 of the planned 26 locks completed. Leased to Metro Parks since 1956, Lock 2 Park still contains the lock-keeper’s house, several outbuildings, a lock wall and a river gauge on the concrete steps.”
Caption for top photo: From left, Lockmaster Singleton, Guard Haley and Assistant Lockmaster Red Holman of the Nashville Engineer District pose after rescuing a man when his boat went over Dam 2 on the Cumberland River in Nashville, Tenn., December 8, 1942. (Nashville Engineer District