Reduce the Mass
There's no real rule for what an old dam was made of in my area, but I've found a general time frame applies. For most of the 1800s, expect dry-stacked stones only, no mortar in sight. This dam isn't on the highly-detailed 1876 map of Annapolis County, and they certainly wouldn't have missed something this size. At the turn of the 20th century, you start seeing examples like this, with concrete used to reduce the mass of a structure still mostly made of stone. By the 1930s, virtually everything was solid concrete, top to bottom. After the Second World War, the problem dams were solving became the sole responsibility of the electric company. After decades of slow expansion, even the most rural areas were finally getting electrified. Private water power is what they were built for, whether to run a lumber, grist, or carding mill – or harvest ice before the advent of modern refrigeration. There was such a boom in dam construction that I can hardly hike a stream of any size without seeing a sign of one. Sometimes, it's just a half-crumbled wall on each bank, the middle section long-collapsed. Now and then, I find an example with the center span intact. This has taken a battering through the years, its former purpose long since lost. But I figure it can stand a century still.
April 7, 2025
Deep Brook, Nova Scotia
Year 18, Day 6357 of my daily journal.
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Reduce the Mass
There's no real rule for what an old dam was made of in my area, but I've found a general time frame applies. For most of the 1800s, expect dry-stacked stones only, no mortar in sight. This dam isn't on the highly-detailed 1876 map of Annapolis County, and they certainly wouldn't have missed something this size. At the turn of the 20th century, you start seeing examples like this, with concrete used to reduce the mass of a structure still mostly made of stone. By the 1930s, virtually everything was solid concrete, top to bottom. After the Second World War, the problem dams were solving became the sole responsibility of the electric company. After decades of slow expansion, even the most rural areas were finally getting electrified. Private water power is what they were built for, whether to run a lumber, grist, or carding mill – or harvest ice before the advent of modern refrigeration. There was such a boom in dam construction that I can hardly hike a stream of any size without seeing a sign of one. Sometimes, it's just a half-crumbled wall on each bank, the middle section long-collapsed. Now and then, I find an example with the center span intact. This has taken a battering through the years, its former purpose long since lost. But I figure it can stand a century still.
April 7, 2025
Deep Brook, Nova Scotia
Year 18, Day 6357 of my daily journal.
bluesky | etsy | facebook | instagram
substack | threads | tumblr | youtube
You can support my work
get things in the mail
and see everything
first on Patreon