Related to the blog post last week about Old Ben of Yorktown, the potential canal featured on this map was considered by the US Army Corps of Engineers as an alternative to the familiar canal closer to the downtown area.
As described last week, Old Ben was to guard the Menasha dam that was suspected in causing flooding in Oshkosh and Fond du Lac by raising the levels of Lake Winnebago. Correspondence between the Corps of Engineers and the Secretary of War, as a result of a Senate resolution to investigate these claims, led to the above map being drawn up in 1876 as one part of the solution to the flooding concerns.
In the end, the present canal stayed and the dam was replaced with a new one, constructed just below the old one in 1886-87. Despite appearances, the new dam remained the same height as the old one but four sluice gates were added to the structure to be opened when the levels of Lake WInnebago rose to a designated mark to preclude flooding.
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