Falls of the Ohio

 About 400 million years ago this area was covered by a shallow tropical sea. Vast numbers of fossilized remnants of creatures from that time can be found in this unique area, now a state park.
 As the corals and other prehistoric sea inhabitants died, they were buried in layers of sediment that caused them to fossilize. This ancient sea floor was exposed during the retreat of Ice Age glaciers giving a view preserved in stone.

    
Fossils revealed at the Falls of the Ohio 

Prior to the 1920s, the Falls of the Ohio, near Louisville, KY, were a series of rapids caused by water flowing over ledges of hard limestone for 2.5 miles with a drop of 26 feet. This was the only place between Pittsburgh, PA and New Orleans, LA where boats had dangerous rapids or a low water barricade of rock. 

Now the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers manages a system of 20 locks and dams along the 981 mile long Ohio River. As this system did not exist in the Fall of 1803, the expedition dragged and pulled their boats over these treacherous falls.

    
Falls of the Ohio as seen by Lewis and Clark                                 Falls of the Ohio in 2021              .

 
Cave-in-Rock

The Ohio River has carved many caves in the bordering limestone. A very large one known as Cave-in-Rock has a reputation as a robber’s den and outlaw hideout.

    
                  Cave-in-Rock                                                Crossing to Kentucky from Cave-in-Rock

 

National Quilt Museum of the United States
The National Quilt Museum is an art museum that exhibits some of the finest fiber art and quilting from around the world.

    
Quilt in Flight                                                            Many folded triangles

   
A Walk in the Woods                                              Winter in the Country

Paducah, Kentucky, home of the National Quilt Museum, was founded and named by William Clark after the Padouca Indian Nation. Located at the confluence of the Ohio and Tennessee Rivers the town became an early hub of the nation’s inland transportation system.

 

Barbecue Off the River
The annual "Barbecue Off the River" is a major source of funding for charities in the Paducah area. We enjoyed both the pulled pork and smoked ribs from one of the many vendors in this town wide event.

 
Smokin Ribs 

While rivers have usually been a town’s best friend, flood waters turned into an enemy in 1884, 1913 and 1937, the areas most devastating event in the 20^th century. After 6 weeks of rain in the Ohio Valley, the river crested at 60.8 feet, nearly 11 feet above town streets. Following this flood, flood walls encircling the town were erected for protection.

When the navigation systems on the Ohio River were completed in 1929, there were 51 moveable wicket dams. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers uses boat mounted cranes to raise and lower the original wooden wickets dam sections as required by the anticipated river water level. In 2010 Olmsted Locks and Dam replaced the original Locks and Dams 52 and 53, the last wooden wicket dams on the Ohio River.

 
Passing over an open wicket dam

    
Modern traveler on the river                                   Cargo of coal and gravel
 

As they travelled westward, Lewis and Clark encountered many helpful indigenous people with whom they shared gifts such as American flags and Thomas Jefferson Medals.

 
Helpful Indians

 

Metropolis, Illinois
A tourism destination for comic book fans 

In 1972 D C Comics officially declared the small town of Metropolis the “Home of Superman” and completed a 200-foot tall statue of the Man of Steel. The town newspaper is called The Metropolis Planet.

    

Truth, Justice and The American Way