The general bed of the Ohio River has remained consistent. Over the years several dams have been built, not to mention other construction along its banks - these have impacted the depth and current of the river. I believe that dredging may have also played a role in any changes. At one time there were quite a few islands in the river between Belmont county and Cincinnati..... with the dams, all but a few of these are now underwater. The dams have helped to regulate the flow of the river, diminshing the extremes of our ancestors. Shallower water and slower water will freeze quicker than deeper, quicker moving water. Also today, with industries located along the banks, the temperature of the river is probably several degrees warmer. I currently live a few miles west of the Hudson River, about 60 miles north of NYC..- it is quite deep here, and depending on the tide - the water is salty. Even so, there are stories here of years ago the river freezing over and people walking across. SueEd NY --- verstraten <verstraten@prodigy.net> wrote: > My grandmother was born in 1886 in Belmont County. She told me stories > of ice skating on the river > and walking across the river. I have lived in this area all of my life > and I can assure you that I > have never been able to work across the river. > > I can assure you that the river and streams have changed in this area. > If you read the early > accounts of the Indian and early settlers, it will confirm the river has > changed over the years and > aiding in those changes were the DAMS.... > Flora > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Sandra Ferguson" <ferg@ntelos.net> > To: <OHBELMON-L@rootsweb.com> > Sent: Wednesday, May 02, 2007 07:36 AM > Subject: [OHBELMON] The Brown Collection > > > The Brown Collection is a great bunch of photos, with many including > shots > of the Ohio River at Wheeling...you might try those. I don't, however, > think the river 'looked' much different before the locks went in, except > in > times of extremity....like, when the water was low due to lack of rain, > OR > when it was up, due to excess rain upstream. In general, the topography > of > the river is unchanged. > > http://wheeling.weirton.lib.wv.us/history/photos/brown/BROWN.HTM > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > OHBELMON-request@rootsweb.com with the word > 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the > message > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > OHBELMON-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the > quotes in the subject and the body of the message > __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com

S Edwards wrote: >The general bed of the Ohio River has remained consistent. Over the years >several dams have been built, not to mention other construction along its >banks - these have impacted the depth and current of the river. I believe >that dredging may have also played a role in any changes. At one time >there were quite a few islands in the river between Belmont county and >Cincinnati..... with the dams, all but a few of these are now underwater. > >The dams have helped to regulate the flow of the river, diminshing the >extremes of our ancestors. > >Shallower water and slower water will freeze quicker than deeper, quicker >moving water. Also today, with industries located along the banks, the >temperature of the river is probably several degrees warmer. > >I currently live a few miles west of the Hudson River, about 60 miles >north of NYC..- it is quite deep here, and depending on the tide - the >water is salty. Even so, there are stories here of years ago the river >freezing over and people walking across. > >SueEd >NY > >--- verstraten <verstraten@prodigy.net> wrote: > > > >>My grandmother was born in 1886 in Belmont County. She told me stories >>of ice skating on the river >>and walking across the river. I have lived in this area all of my life >>and I can assure you that I >>have never been able to work across the river. >> >>I can assure you that the river and streams have changed in this area. >>If you read the early >>accounts of the Indian and early settlers, it will confirm the river has >>changed over the years and >>aiding in those changes were the DAMS.... >>Flora >> >> >>----- Original Message ----- >>From: "Sandra Ferguson" <ferg@ntelos.net> >>To: <OHBELMON-L@rootsweb.com> >>Sent: Wednesday, May 02, 2007 07:36 AM >>Subject: [OHBELMON] The Brown Collection >> >> >>The Brown Collection is a great bunch of photos, with many including >>shots >>of the Ohio River at Wheeling...you might try those. I don't, however, >>think the river 'looked' much different before the locks went in, except >>in >>times of extremity....like, when the water was low due to lack of rain, >>OR >>when it was up, due to excess rain upstream. In general, the topography >>of >>the river is unchanged. >> >>http://wheeling.weirton.lib.wv.us/history/photos/brown/BROWN.HTM >> >> >>------------------------------- >>To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to >>OHBELMON-request@rootsweb.com with the word >>'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the >>message >> >> >>------------------------------- >>To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to >>OHBELMON-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the >>quotes in the subject and the body of the message >> >> >> > > >__________________________________________________ >Do You Yahoo!? >Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around >http://mail.yahoo.com > >------------------------------- >To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to OHBELMON-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > > Here is something else to consider when speaking of the river freezing over. Sue Edwards writes of the Hudson River freezing over in years past. One has to consider that in the 1850's and earlier, the world was still in the tail end of the "little ice age" that was then ending. There are stories in history of a winter carnival held on the ice of the Themes River in London during the early 1800's, of people ice skating on the ice in New York Harbor during the 1850's. So, one would expect that the Ohio would have frozen over in the years of the mid 1800's and earlier. Bill Dalton.

At 09:47 PM 5/2/2007, you wrote: >So, one would expect that >the Ohio would have frozen over in the years of the mid 1800's and earlier. The Ohio River has frozen over a few of times in the past thirty years in the area between Ravenswood WV and Meigs County OH. On at least two occasions it has frozen solidly enough to stop barge traffic. Kaiser Aluminum, now Century Aluminum, had to have bauxite ore shipped in by rail car to prevent shutting down as the Reduction Plant. In the early 1930s and after the locks was built at Ravenswood, my father says that he drove a Model T from Ravenswood to Meigs County and back across the frozen river. I have seen photos of other old cars on the river ice but my father did not have a photo of his experience. Les Shockey