Introduction
It was a cold Wednesday morning on Jan. 1, 1873, when Willamette Falls Locks opened its gates for the first time to river traffic traveling along the Willamette River, allowing safe portage around the 40-foot high Willamette Falls. The opening of the locks gave birth to new competition and safer travels for boats making the journey between Portland and the river cities in the Willamette Valley.
Built at a cost of about $600,000, including a $200,000 grant from the State of Oregon, during the early 1870s, Willamette Falls Locks was constructed in an attempt to dissolve a monopoly held by the People's Transportation Company. At the time, they were the only commercial boating firm providing cargo and passenger service along the Willamette River between Portland and the inner valley. Because of the lack of adequate roads and railroads, people relied on the river for most of their transportation needs. Following construction, three companies serviced the region. Boats traveling through the locks were levied tolls of 50 cents per ton and 10 cents per passenger. Public concern that the tolls impeded the development of the Willamette Valley prompted the idea of federal ownership of the locks as early as 1899.
However, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers did not purchase the lock system until 1915, in part because the then-owner, Portland General Electric, set the sale price too high. When the Corps did purchase the locks from Portland Railway Light and Power Company, it did so at a price of $375,000.
Since turning over to federal control, no toll has been charged for passage around the Willamette Falls. The locks offer free portage for both commercial and recreational boaters. The Portland District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, held the Willamette Falls Locks 125th Anniversary Celebration on May 2, 1998.
Willamette Falls Locks holds the distinction of being the first water resource project in Oregon. In 1974 the locks was placed on the National Register of Historic Places, and in 1991, Willamette Falls Locks was designated as a State Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by the History and Heritage Committee of the American Society of Civil Engineers.
The original lockmaster's office has been converted into a museum, and displays photographs of the historic locks that have been in operation since 1873.
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