Locks and Dams

Locks and Dams. . Kentucky River Lock and Dam Four are about half a mile north of Kentucky River View Park. They are part of a system of fourteen locks and dams built on the river between the 1830s and 1917. Both state and federal governments contributed to the project. The Frankfort facilities were first installed in 1844, and they have been extensively reworked several times since then. This system of locks and dams opened the Kentucky River for year-round commercial traffic. Promoters of the system expected it to contribute greatly to regional prosperity by providing an economical route for moving goods and people through central and eastern Kentucky. The system never lived up to expectations. By the time it was completed, railroads, which operated much more efficiently than riverboats, were opening routes throughout the area., The United States Army Corps of Engineers maintained the Kentucky navigation system until the last commercial user of the river-a Frankfort sand and gravel company-stopped moving its commodities by barge in 2002. The locks and dams are now under the supervision of the Kentucky River Authority, an agency of state government., A Kentucky River steamboat. Photograph courtesy of the Capital City Museum; City of Frankfort Department of Parks, Recreation and Historic Sites.