Curwensville Dam
Pike Township, Clearfield County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
CURWENSVILLE DAM SUSQUEHANNA RIVER U.S.ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS BALTIMORE DISTRICT DAVID S. PARKER BRIGADIER GENERAL, CE, U.S.ARMY DIVISION ENGINEER FRANK W. RHEA COLONEL CE, U.S.ARMY DISTRICT ENGINEER JAMES P WEAVER RESIDENT ENGINEER 1962-1965… transcription continues on the marker
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The Story
This bronze plaque marks the Curwensville Dam, a flood-control project the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built across the West Branch of the Susquehanna River between 1962 and 1965. It rose during the postwar era when the Corps was reshaping American waterways with earthen dams and reservoirs to tame the seasonal floods that had long battered Pennsylvania's river towns. The plaque records the officers who oversaw the work, from the Baltimore District's division and district engineers down to the resident engineer on site.
Why it matters
The dam is part of the vast mid-20th-century federal effort to engineer flood protection into America's river valleys, a program that quietly protected countless communities and remade the landscape of Appalachian Pennsylvania.
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Related people
- · David S. Parker
- · Frank W. Rhea
- · James P. Weaver
Related events
- · Construction of the Curwensville Dam (1962–1965)
Themes & tags
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