That strange concrete structure we saw two days ago is the spillway that Theodore Yahn built for what was going to be an earthen dam, which would have filled in a valley. It was never completed, so this stairstepped monolith remains in the woods.
A Blog detailing the beauty of St. Louis architecture and the buildup of residue-or character-that accumulates over the course of time.
That’s a big spillway. Is there a large creek in that area?
Yes, it is big. Around 20 feet tall.
There is a creek right next to the spillway, just below the frame in the first image. It is small though – easily crossed in one jump.
The valley is deep. It would have been a pretty big lake. May have taken a long time to fill up.
I read that the dam was begun the 1930s to create a lake for boating and recreation, but the project was abandoned before completion. I have not found what the reason was. The project seems to have been abandoned several years prior to the land being seized by the Department of the Army.