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Florence in Lauderdale County, Alabama — The American South (East South Central)
 

First Muscle Shoals Canal / Second Muscle Shoals Canal

1836-1838/1890-1918

 
 
First Muscle Shoals Canal 1836-1838 Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Sandra Hughes, September 16, 2018
1. First Muscle Shoals Canal 1836-1838 Marker
Inscription.
First Muscle Shoals Canal
1836-1838
From the earliest attempts to navigate the Tennessee River, it was known that a formidable obstacle made the passage from one end to the other almost impossible. This barrier, caused by waterfalls, rapids, sinks, sandbars, and islands, divided the river into the upper and lower Tennessee River. The vertical fall of the river between Bear Creek below Florence and Brown’s Ferry, east of Rogersville, covered a distance of approximately 80 miles and dropped around 200 feet. The worst section of the fall line occurred between Florence and Brown’s Ferry, known as “The Muscle Shoals.” In a distance of about 37 miles, the river dropped over 137 feet. Surveying and mapping of the upper part of the Tennessee River began in 1830 to circumvent the entire hazardous barrier from the mouth of Bear Creek to Brown’s Ferry. The U. S. Government relinquished 400,000 acres of land to the state of Alabama to be sold and the proceeds used in financing the Tennessee Canal, later renamed the Muscle Shoals Canal. Sale of the land failed to raise sufficient funds to construct the entire canal. The plans were downsized to build the canal from Florence to Lamb’s Ferry, south of Rogersville. Plans called for constructing a lateral canal around the barriers of the north side of the river. Construction
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began in early 1831 and the canal was opened in 1836 at a cost of $644,594. The canal was 14.5 miles long, 60 feet wide and 6 feet deep. It had 17 locks, each 120 feet long and 32 feet wide. Each lock had a lift of almost five feet. Alabama experienced problems maintaining the canal and sought an additional appropriation from the Federal Government but to no avail. This system was abandoned in 1838.

Second Muscle Shoals Canal
1890-1918
Surveying and planning for a second Muscle Shoals Canal began in 1871 under the U. S. Corps of Engineers. Construction began in 1875 with the Army engineers working directly under the Federal Government. The original canal was widened and the 17 locks, over a distance of 14.5 miles were reduced to nine with a total lift of 85 feet. Each lock was 60 feet wide by 284 feet between stills. Three additional locks were added, one at the Colbert Shoals, south of Florence, and Locks A and B that provided a channel around the shoals at the mouth of Elk River. Lock one was at the easternmost point on the canal, on the west side of the mouth of First Creek, west of Rogersville. Lock Nine was at the westernmost point of the system, east of the modern-day Wilson Dam. An aqueduct, 845 feet long and 60 feet wide, was constructed over the mouth of Shoals Creek to avoid the water flowing into the canal. A rail track was
Second Muscle Shoals Canal 1890-1918 Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Sandra Hughes, September 16, 2018
2. Second Muscle Shoals Canal 1890-1918 Marker
built alongside the canal and a locomotive towed the boats through the canal. Lock Six at Killen was the headquarters for the canal. Lieutenant George W. Goethals was assigned to the Muscle Shoals canal project to expedite its completion. It was opened for navigation on November 10, 1890. Goethals was promoted to captain and given command of the Engineering District at Florence. He was in charge of Tennessee River improvements from Decatur to Waterloo under his transfer from Florence in October 1894. In early 1907, Major General Goethals was appointed chief engineer over the construction of the Panama Canal. The Muscle Shoals continued to operate until construction of the Wilson Dam began in April 1918 with over 27 years of service.
 
Erected 2018 by Florence Historical Board, Florence, Alabama.
 
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Industry & CommerceWaterways & Vessels.
 
Location. 34° 47.097′ N, 87° 40.463′ W. Marker is in Florence, Alabama, in Lauderdale County. Marker is on McFarland Park Road, 0.4 miles south of Coffee Road (Alabama Route 20), on the left when traveling south. Maker is located inside McFarland Park near the Tennessee River. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Florence AL 35630, United States of America. Touch for directions.
 
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance
First Muscle Shoals Canal 1836-1838 Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Sandra Hughes, September 16, 2018
3. First Muscle Shoals Canal 1836-1838 Marker
of this marker. McFarland Park and Recreation Area (about 500 feet away, measured in a direct line); Prehistoric Native Americans / Historic Native Americans (about 700 feet away); Florence Little League Baseball (1951) (approx. 0.4 miles away); Florence Indian Mound (approx. 0.4 miles away); Removal (approx. half a mile away); Culture (approx. half a mile away); Adaptation (approx. half a mile away); Continuity (approx. half a mile away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Florence.
 
Regarding First Muscle Shoals Canal / Second Muscle Shoals Canal. George Washington Goethals was born in Brooklyn, New York, on June 29, 1858, the son of John and Marie Baron Goethals. He received his training as an officer in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. He was appointed to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, from which he graduated in 1880. He was commissioned a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers on June 12, 1880. In the eighties he served for four years as an instructor in civil and military engineering at the Military Academy. He was promoted to first lieutenant in 1882, and to captain on December 14, 1891. In 1884 he married Effie Rodman.
During the Spanish-American War he served as Chief of Engineers in the Volunteer Army, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel.
Muscle Shoals and the Second Canal image. Click for full size.
via more Signs of the Past, 1882
4. Muscle Shoals and the Second Canal
He was later placed in charge of the Muscle Shoals canal construction on the Tennessee River and also built canals near Chattanooga, Tennessee and at Colbert Shoals, Alabama.
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on September 22, 2022. It was originally submitted on September 16, 2018, by Sandra Hughes Tidwell of Killen, Alabama, USA. This page has been viewed 2,449 times since then and 1,031 times this year. Last updated on October 28, 2018, by Craig Baker of Sylmar, California. Photos:   1, 2, 3. submitted on September 16, 2018, by Sandra Hughes Tidwell of Killen, Alabama, USA.   4. submitted on April 24, 2022, by Larry Gertner of New York, New York. • Andrew Ruppenstein was the editor who published this page.

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Mar. 28, 2024