Increased population demanded more supplies and goods

• Flatboats ferried goods over rapids and obstructions of Coosa
• Traffic tended to be southbound only

Alabama Legislature established The Coosa Navigation Company

• To improve the communication between waters of Tennessee and Alabama
• Congress approved the idea, but never funded it

First steamboat on the Upper Coosa

• Major trade between Rome, Georgia, and the Gadsden-Greensport area of Alabama
• Rapids and rocks prevented steamboat travel on Lower Coosa

Captain Cummins Lay piloted steamer Laura Moore across rapids of Lower Coosa at high water to Mobile in escape from Union forces at Rome

• First and only time a boat of that size had made that journey

Steamboat traffic is impacted due to rail and road improvements

• River traffic still heavy, but all movement on the Upper Coosa is into Georgia

Captain Cummins Lay piloted Laura Moore from Wetumpka through rapids and shoals of Lower Coosa to Greensport and on to Rome

• First and only pilot to make that trip in a steamer

State Legislature authorized a survey of the Coosa from the state line to Wetumpka to determine if the river could be made navigable

• Recommendation: 25 ten-foot high dams and 25 locks, each 210 feet long and 25 feet wide
• Plan never materialized

Federal survey of Coosa recommended 31 low-lift dams

• Suggested modifying existing 2.5 ft channel to 3.0 ft
• Subsequently changed to a 4.0 ft channel

Survey of potential 50-mile canal, five feet deep, between Guntersville and Gadsden kept dream alive of a connection with the Tennessee River

• In 1873, economic depression ended this dream

Rivers and Harbors Act commited to build dams and a four-foot channel from Rome to Wetumpka

• Authorized construction of locks and dams at sites 1, 2, and 3 and lock at Wetumpka

Locks 1,2, and 3 essentially completed

Dam near Riverside, Alabama completed

Convention in Montgomery to organize efforts for continued Congressional support of navigation on the Coosa and Alabama Rivers

William Patrick Lay conceived idea of harnessing water flow to produce electricity

Coosa-Alabama River Improvement Association founded in Gadsden

• Objective to pursue further Federal funding
• William Patrick Lay elected President

Locks 1,2, and 3 opened to navigation

Federal government approved $300,000 for work on Coosa, including Lock 31 at Wetumpka

Wetumpka Lock 31 walls finished, but work halted until upstream navigation channel can be assured

• Never completed

6-foot channel authorized for Alabama River

Mayo's Bar Lock near Rome, Georgia authorized

A lock in the Riverside Dam, another dam near Riverside authorized

Mitchell Dam completed near Verbena

Construction began on dam at Cherokee Bluff near Dadeville (Named Martin Dam)

Alabama Legislature established State Docks Commission

Martin Dam completed near Dadeville

Work began on dam atop Devil's Staircase near Wetumpka (later named Jordan Dam)

Construction began on Yates Dam on the Tallapoosa at the site of the first hydroelectric generating plant supplying electricity to Montgomery

First steamship vessel to use Mobile State Docks arrived

Jordan Dam completed near Wetumpka

Work began on Thurlow Dam at the site of an old textile mill on the Tallapoosa

Corps of Engineers report recommended a system of locks and dams on the Alabama River and on the Coosa River above existing dams

• Locks around existing dams on Coosa
• A 9-foot channel from Mobile to Rome, Georgia
• Coordination of navigation, flood control, hydroelectric power, and any other use of benefit.

Public Law 436

• Suspended authorization for Federal development of hydropower on Coosa River
• Authorized Alabama Power Company to construct a series of dams on Coosa River for purpose of generating hydropower
• Provided for future economic construction of navigation facilities by the Federal government

House Document 320, 86th Congress

• COE plan for Coosa River navigation
• Calls for 9 ft x 150 ft channel from Wetumpka to Rome, Georgia, locks around each Alabama Power Company dam, and bridge clearance of 150 ft horizontally, and 35 ft vertically

Alabama Power Company began construction of dam near Vincent (Later named Logan Martin Dam)

Alabama Power Company began construction of dam at site of old lock 3, just below Greensport (Later named H. Neely Henry Dam)

Federal government began construction of Carters Lake Dam

Alabama Power Company began construction on Walter Bouldin Dam on a canal between Jordan Reservoir and the Coosa below Wetumpka

Federal government began construction of Miller's Ferry Lock and Dam near Camden

Appalachian Report - Among other things, did the following

• Shifted Coosa navigation channel from Jordan Dam to Bouldin Dam
• Raised vertical clearance for bridges to 42.5 ft
• Cited benefits of 1.1 to 1 and, if regional benefits included, 2.3 to 1
• Report never submitted to Congress or President

Federal government began construction of Claiborne Lock and Dam in Monroe County

H. Neely Henry Dam completed

Federal government began construction of Jones Bluff Lock and Dam

Walter Bouldin Dam completed

Alabama Power redevelopment of Lay Dam raised reservoir by 14 feet

Economic Restudy of Coosa Navigation Project

• Benefits/Cost ratio of Montgomery-Gadsden leg recomputed at 0.95 to 1 and, with regional benefits, 1.1 to 1.
• COE indicated general data used was not conclusive.

Dike at Bouldin Dam breaks and powerhouse flooded

Hydroelectric power first generated at Jones Bluff

Revised Economic Study

• Benefits/Cost ratio revised to 0.46 to 1, including regional benefits

Carters Lake Dam completed

Congress placed Coosa Navigation Project on indefinite hold

• Benefits did not justify costs
• Competing development projects did not allow project funding

Harris Dam completed