page_title: Willamette Falls Locks
section_title: Acquisition complete
hierarchical_section_title: Willamette Falls Locks / Federal acquisition / Acquisition complete
caption_attribution_description: English: The Willamette Locks in 1888. Steamer N.R. Lang is on the right. Unidentified steamer is on the left.
context_page_description: The Willamette Falls Locks are a lock system on the Willamette River in the U.S. state of Oregon. Opened in 1873 and closed since 2011, they allowed boat traffic on the Willamette to navigate beyond Willamette Falls and the T.W. Sullivan Dam. Since their closure in 2011 the locks are classified to be in a "non-operational status" and are expected to remain permanently closed.
  Located in the Portland metropolitan area, the four inter-connected locks are 25 miles upriver from the Columbia River at West Linn, just across the Willamette River from Oregon City. The locks were operated by the United States Army Corps of Engineers and served primarily pleasure boats. Passage through the locks was free for both commercial and recreational vessels. The locks were added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.
  The locks comprise seven gates in four chambers which lift up to 50 feet elevation change with a usable width of 37 feet. The system is 3,565 feet long, and can accommodate vessels up to 75 feet long. Each of the four concrete constructed chambers are 210 by 40 feet.
context_section_description: In 1912, the War Department approved purchase of the locks from Portland Railway, Light & Power Company.  The purchase price was to be $375,000.  The transaction did not finally close until 1915.
  The reason for the delay was the need to establish the vendor's title to the property, as well as to work out the details of the various conditions that the vendor wished to attach to the sale.  The title problems stem from the fact that the town of Linn City, which had been on the west side of the false, had been washed away by a flood in 1862, apparently along with all of its records.  While the owners and operators of the locks appeared to be able to claim title by adverse possession, this would not be considered sufficient by the U.S. government, which required proof of the plat map of the town of Linn City.
  By August 1912, a search was underway for a map of Linn City.  An official of the Corps of Engineers had heard from one old resident of Linn City that a map had survived the flood, but this map could not be found.  The official intended to consult with George H. Himes, of the Oregon Historical Society to learn more about Linn City.
  Before the transfer to the U.S. government some mills near the locks drew their water directly from the upper lock level.  This created currents which impeded navigation through the lock.  The government was unwilling to permit this to continue under its ownership, so, as part of the conditions of the sale, the United States would be required to build a wall in the navigation canal which would have the effect of creating a separate water source, with an opening well above the falls, for the canal side industries.
  In April 1915 the cost of this wall, estimated to be between $125,000 and $150,000, would be the largest single item of work then planned for the locks and canal.  Other work that the government intended to carry out included repair of the lock gates and deepening the approaches to the locks.  The lower sill of the downstream lock was to be lowered, and a new pair of gates was to be constructed.
caption: The Willamette Canal and locks, looking north towards the Oregon City suspension bridge.  The steamer N.R. Lang is on the right.  By this date, sometime after 1900, a large concentration of industry has arisen just to the east of the canal.
exif: {}