Description
In 1886, the U. S. Congress authorized constructing three locks overcoming the Tuscaloosa Falls, a series of rock rapids falling 25 feet in about two miles. Locks 1, 2, and 3 opened on January 12, 1896.
To facilitate coal shipment, the River and Harbor Acts of 1902 and 1907 authorized various improvements to the Black Warrior and lower Tombigbee Rivers creating 17 locks and dams to provide navigation from the Port of Mobile to near Birmingham, AL.
Locks 1, 2, and 3 were renamed 10, 11, and 12. The entire lock system was completely built by 1915. Lock 12 was located across from the entrance to the University of Alabama on Jack Warner Parkway at The Park at Manderson Landing.
Publisher
Michael E. Palmer, "Postcards from the Past," Tuscaloosa Magazine, Winter 2007, Vol.5, Issue 3, pp. 66-77.