Letchworth State Park - Mt. Morris Dam

Mt. Morris Dam

Found at the North end of the park, the construction of the Mount Morris Dam was begun in 1948 by the US Army Corps of Engineers under the Flood Control Act of 1944. The dam was completed in 1954. The Genesee River became wider and deeper upstream for a ways as a result, but areas downstream were spared yearly flooding which destroyed valuable farmland.

The Mt. Morris Dam is the largest flood control device of its kind (concrete gravity) east of the Mississippi River. It is 1,028 feet (313 m) in length and 230 feet (70 m) from the riverbed. The dam proved its worth during the Flood of 1972, saving thousands of acres of farmland from flooding.

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