Ohio River Memorial, Cincinnati, Ohio

On October 8, 1895 the Ohio Valley Improvement Association was organized by the Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce to “foster the canalization and improvement of the Ohio River and provide a navigable channel for uninterrupted commerce”.

In 1910, the Rivers and Harbors Act was authorized by Congress. The Act allowed the production of a system of locks and dams along the Ohio River.

Forty nine locks and movable dams were erected by the United States government between Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Cairo, Illinois, a distance of nine hundred and eighty miles, giving a minimal river level of 9 feet deep for navigation.

Before this venture the Ohio River would have huge water level swings from a low of only 2 feet deep in September of 1881 to a high of 71 feet in 1884.

In 1929 the Ohio River Memorial monument was erected along Cliff Drive in Cincinnati’s Eden Park. On October 22, 1929 the monument was dedicated by President Herbert Hoover to mark the completion of the canalization of the Ohio River.

Today it sits high above the river marking one of the most important developments on the Ohio River.

GPS Location: 39º06’58.8″N 84º29’17.9″W