The Rappahannock River has been the life blood of Fredericksburg, its velocity feeding five industrial raceways and its flow providing drinking water to three jurisdictions. From around 1770 through 2004, various types of dams diverted part of the river's voluem into canals that are still evident today. Two canals are on the south side of the river and two on the north side. A fifth raceway crossed the island in front of you, fed by a dam across the channel to your right.
The view upstream used to include the Embrey Dam, a concret structure built in 1910 that helped generate hydro-electricity for the region and also impounded water for local consumption. When an electrical plant and water impoundments were established elsewhere, the aging dam was demolished. Removal of the Embrey Dam and an 1854 crib dam behind it ended nearly 300 years of river barriers and has facilitated environmental restoration of the riverine ecosystem.

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Show me all markers in:  Fredericksburg, VA  |  22401  |  Virginia  |  United States of America

Rappahannock River Heritage Trail
Amoroleck Encounters John Smith
Confederate and Federal Defenses in May 1863
A Navigation Canal Becomes a Raceway
Civil War Defenses
Confederate Defenses in December 1862
"Fall Hill"
A Once Promising Canal Becomes a Raceway
A Diversion
"Fall Hill"

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