The Rocky Ford State Fishing Area is a Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism (KDWPT) outdoor recreation area in northeast Kansas. It has been a popular water recreational area since the original construction of a millpond there in the 1860s.
The centerpiece of the park is a 14 foot high concrete low fall dam. There is a large abutment on the west end and on the east end are the foundations of a demolished water mill and hydroelectric power plant. Except at times of extreme flooding, this dam prevents any fish migration up-stream past that point. This blockage results in a concentration of large game fish in the waters below the dam, making it a popular location for fishing. The dam impounds the recreational fishing and no-wake boating lake of the River Pond Area of Tuttle Creek State Park.
A concrete walkway is in place to allow fishermen from the east side to get access to the flow of water directly below the dam.
The park also includes a 55 acre strip of ground along the east bank of the river, featuring a trail that extends miles south to Dyer Road and miles North to the Rocky Ford Campground, which is a part of the River Pond Area State Park.
The park's vehicle access (Rock Ford Road) is from Dyer's Road, which intersects with U.S. Route 24/Tuttle Creek Boulevard and with Kansas Highway 13 just east of the Tuttle Creek Dam Spillway Area.
From the early days of settlement and statehood, the Big Blue River had been recognized as having excellent potential for hydraulic power, being described as the "Merrimac" of Kansas[1] Dozens of small mill ponds would be established in the watershed, usually to power grist mills and sawmills, before the availability of transported fossil fuels and higher horsepower industrial equipment rendered the relatively small water mills obsolete and relocated markets to industrialize railroad towns. With early electrification, a few of these dams were restored as hydroelectric plants.
An early dam was established at Rocky Ford to grind grain and saw lumber. Over time, four dams were built in succession at the location. Today, the present dam retains the River Pond, established during in the construction of the Tuttle Creek Dam and is the namesake of the Rocky Ford Campground on the south side of that pond.
History edit
As the first dams at Rocky Ford were built just upstream of the crossing, Rocky Ford remained an active river crossing until the construction of the present damn in 1929, which put the west approach underwater. The public could still cross the river at that point on foot by using the tunnel built within the new dam.
Naturally, the lake was popular for swimming and fishing. Powerboat races were regularly held in the 1930s. An outdoor dance pavilion was constructed on the west shore, and the power plant constructed a 500-foot long heated swimming pool.
Rocky Ford edit
4 miles above the junction of the Big Blue River with the Kansas River
Much of the old crossing underlies the present dam's waters.
3 miles upstream
reports have the length of the impounded water measured at 6-8 miles along the river channel or 3-5 miles straight up the valley.
Original wood frame dam — 1868 edit
In 1866 a wood frame dam was constructed the year after the Kansas Pacific Railway was built through Manhattan to Junction City
dam and flour mill were constructed at the Crossing. This first dam was built above the crossing area, which could still be used, even though at this point in time there was a ferry a mile below the dam and a new bridge across the Big Blue River at Poyntz Avenue in Manhattan, the crossing was a more direct access to the mill.
While brief descriptions of the facility describe the present dam as the second Dam built in 1908 there were actually three dams built at this location
The mill was converted to a concrete power dam, built by the Rocky Ford Milling and Power Company in the early 1900s.[5]
1866
[6]
However, there were problems of quicksand resulting from the higher water level.
1867
[7]
1868 [8]
1869 In September of 1869, having been in the area since April, Cyrus Criswell became head miller of the Rock Ford Mill.[9]
1871 Charles Bradley replaced Criswell in 1871 as the head operator for the remainder of the grain milling operations, which ceased in the 1880s.[10]
1872 1883
was considered some waste of potential, for the mill used but a fraction of the available power.[11][12]
1886 [13]
The Manhattan Mercury (Manhattan, Kansas) 20 Mar 1889, Wed Page 1 https://kansashistoricalsociety.newspapers.com/image/254213373 ... Manhattan has now at Rocky Ford what is said to be the finest water power in the State of Kansas.
electric power generation was considered in the 1880s [14]
1891 the timber dam is wrecked by floods [15]
destroyed before 1893Cite error: The <ref> tag has too many names (see the help page).
Timber and stone dam edit
With the arrival a railroads, grain mills were located with elevators along railroad sidings, in this case
miles to the south in Manhattan. The old frame dam was not maintained and was washed away in a flash flood several years before the turn of the century.
Concrete arch dam — 1908 edit
In 1908, with the long-considered intention of harnessing the river for electrical power, a new concrete arch dam was constructed over the foundations of the older dams, reusing the stone masonry abutment on the west end and improving the concrete race on the east end. Electrical equipment was not purchased until success with the dam was assure by its successful completion. Water turbines were installed and on line by 1910.[16] An oil-burning steam power plant was constructed as a steel-paneled annex to the stone mill and the electrical equipment was upgraded, particular to power the trolleys on the new Manhattan-Junction City Interurban Railway.[17]
This third dam failed in September 1919[18]
Present hollow straight dam — 1920 edit
200 employees banquet [19]
second chimney Cite error: A <ref> tag is missing the closing </ref> (see the help page).
1932 [20]
KPL donation of parkland — 1967 edit
1967 "Dam Centennial" The site was deeded to Kansas Forestry, Fish and Game Commission.[21]
KPL maintained a substation for some years afterward. (hydroelectric Tuttle)
Park expansion — 2006 edit
Rocky Ford Outdoor Recreation Area Riley County
Mike Hayden, then Secretary of the Kansas Wildlife and Parks Department,
Dam's Centennial [29]
Manhattan Diamond Jubilee[30]
References edit
- ^ Andreas, A. T. (1883). Andreas, A. T. History of the state of Kansas (Supplementary History and Description of its Counties Cities Towns and Villages). Chicago. p. 1301. Retrieved 2019-08-01.
The Big Blue, forming the larger portion of the eastern boundary of the county, has fewer sharp bends than the Kaw, into which it flows at the east of Manhattan, and it is so bountifully furnished with water-power as to cause it to be designated the "Merrimac" of Kansas. It is dammed at Rock Ford, some three miles above Manhattan; the fall is ten feet, and the dam 342 feet in length, is built of heavy oak timbers bolted into the solid rock foundation. The Rocky Ford mill was built here in 1866. It is a four-story stone building, 40x60 feet.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ Lt. Colonel L. J. Lincoln, District Engineer, U. S. Engineers Office, Department of the Army, Corps of Engineers (September 4, 1953). A Preliminary Report on Fish and Wildlife Resources in Relation to the Water Development plan for the Tuttle Creek Dam and Reservoir, Big Blue River, Missouri River Basin, Kansas (PDF). Billings, Montana: United States Department Of The Interior, Fish And Wildlife Service. p. 12, 31. Retrieved 2019-07-14.
p. 12, ... A small power dam at Rocky Ford, 1.7 miles below Tuttle Creek dam site, backs water 3 miles upstream. Another small power dam at Marysville is just above the flood limits of the reservoir. p. 31, The Big Blue River below the Tuttle Creek dam site supports a much-utilized fishery. The short reach of stream immediately below the existing Rocky Ford Dam is the most intensively fished section of stream in the project area. Large numbers of fishermen concentrate there at the height of the fishing season.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Delmer William Randall (1898). An Investigation of the Rocky Ford Water Power, Senior thesis. Kansas State Agricultural College, Manhattan, Kansas. pp. 3, 11. Retrieved 2019-07-14.
3. … A portion of the power had, before the advent of railroads, been used to run a grist and saw mill. The old mill-building still stands in good condition; but the dam, which was a frame structure, became dilapidated thru lack of attention, and was carried away by a freshet, several years since. P. 11. The channel is two hundred and fifty feet wide and a backwater of seven miles …
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - ^ "Riley County GIS Viewer". Riley County Community GIS Website. Retrieved 2019-07-14.
[Reports of distance are given as either 3-5 miles or 7-8 miles. GIS viewer used to correlate the meandering river distance (old county line) with straight distance]
- ^ "Rocky Ford Fishing Area & Trail".
- ^ History of Rocky Ford, 1948. “The water in the river at the time was low favoring rapid construction, and Dec. 1, 1866 it was announced that the dam was completed.”
- ^ Historic 'Rocky Ford Dam' Given to State Of Kansas, 1967 (Dam’s Centennial). "It was built in 1867 and is 100 years old this year."
- ^ Cheryl Collins, Director, Riley County Historical Museum. (2011-06-15). "Purcell Chronology". Retrieved 2019-07-20.
1868 February - Rocky ford dam built by E.B. Purcell
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Portrait and Biographical Album of Washington, Clay and Riley Counties, Kansas. Chicago: Chapman Brothers. 1890. p. 502.
- ^ Portrait and Biographical Album of Washington, Clay and Riley Counties, Kansas. Chicago: Chapman Brothers. 1890. p. 502.
- ^ "In the Country". Manhattan Nationalist. Manhattan, Kansas: 3. March 23, 1883. Retrieved 2019-08-02.
There was music in the roaring waters which reminded us of days gone by and of mills that were turned only by water power. Will the power now going to waste at Rocky Ford ever be used by Manhattan?
- ^ "Progress at Blue Rapids". The Manhattan Republic. Manhattan, Kansas: 2. January 26, 1872. Retrieved 2019-08-02.
It is to be hoped that this example [of the expansion of mills at Blue Rapids] will not be lost on the proprietors of the Rocky ford power. By exhibiting proper enterprise they may benefit themselves and the whole country. Wake up gentlemen!
- ^ "The ice in the Blue River has broken and it is reported that the Rocky Ford dam is in danger of going out with the ice". Manhattan Nationalist. Manhattan, Kansas: 3. February 12, 1886. Retrieved 2019-08-02.
- ^ "Saturday". The Manhattan Republic. Manhattan, Kansas: 5. May 16, 1889. Retrieved 2019-08-07.
Maj. Adams thinks the best thing mentioned yet in the line of improvement [of Manhattan] is the electric power, to be obtained by damming the Blue at Rocky Ford [inferring that the dam was at least partially wrecked] ....
- ^ "Personal Paragraphs. — Saturday". The Manhattan Republic. Manhattan, Kansas: 2. June 25, 1891. Retrieved 2019-08-07.
As a result of Nebraska storms last Wednesday and Thursday, the Blue rivers was much above the high-water mark, and the flood is bringing with it great quantities of rubbish and drift wood. the bridges have been fairly lined with boys spearing for whatever may be of any value. We understand another section of the dam at Rock ford has been washed out, leaving only a few feet near the mill.
- ^ Census of Electrical Industries: 1902, 1907, 1912, 1917, 1922, 1927: Central Electric Light and Power Stations. United States. Bureau of the Census, U.S. Government Printing Office. 1915. p. 128. Retrieved 2019-08-02.
A plant with 13-foot head was started in July, 1910, in north-central Kansas by the Rocky Ford Milling and Power Co, securing 800 kilowatts in capacity from 3-cycle, 60-volt generators, delivered to the city of Manhattan, 3 miles away, at a pressure of 6,600 volts to a local distributor, the [independent] Manhattan Light, Ice & Power Co., which maintains it's [preexisting] steam plant as a standby.
- ^ Historic 'Rocky Ford Dam' Given to State Of Kansas,1967 (Dam’s Centennial). In 1913 the equipment was turned into a power plant to furnish power for the Manhattan-Junction City Interurban Railway.
- ^ "Manhattan/Riley County, 1911-1920". Riley County/Manhattan Timeline 1811-2009. Riley County, Kansas. Retrieved 2019-08-03.
(June) the old Rocky Ford Mill burned. 1919 (September) A section of the dam went out at Rocky Ford. An entirely new dam will be built below the old one. Electric production continues through work [though the agency of both the steam plant and a coffer dam above the breach].
- ^ "Miss Content Peck ..." The Morning Chronicle. Manhattan, Kansas: 6. July 9, 1921.
Content Peck, who recently graduated from the Salina Business college, has a position as stenographer with the company which furnishes power and light to Manhattan. When Mr. and Mrs. Peck arrived, Miss Content, with 200 other employees of the company, was enjoying a banquet spread in a big tunnel through the Rocky Ford dam under the river.
- ^ Historic 'Rocky Ford Dam' Given to State Of Kansas, 1967 (Dam’s Centennial). "The plant became K. P. L.'s property in 1932."
- ^ Historic 'Rocky Ford Dam' Given to State Of Kansas, 1967 (Dam’s Centennial).
- ^ Historic 'Rocky Ford Dam' Given to State Of Kansas, 1967 (Dam’s Centennial).
- ^ Historic 'Rocky Ford Dam' Given to State Of Kansas, 1967 (Dam’s Centennial).
- ^ History of Rocky Ford ,1948.
- ^ History of Rocky Ford ,1948.
- ^ History of Rocky Ford ,1948.
- ^ History of Rocky Ford ,1948.
- ^ History of Rocky Ford ,1948.
- ^ "Historic 'Rocky Ford Dam' Given to State of Kansas". The Emporia Gazette from Emporia, Kansas ·: 12. October 16, 1967.
- ^ "Rocky Ford Industrial Site Since The Early Days When Manhattan Was But Village". The Morning Chronicle (Manhattan Diamond Jubilee issue "We congratulate Manhattan on her 75th birthday."). Manhattan, Kansas: 48. August 24, 1929. Retrieved 2019-07-14.