Road Marker Information

Description:

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Lock and Dam Number 5, Minnesota City, MN 55959

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Country: Winona County
Where Found:

Marker is near Minnesota City, Minnesota, in Winona County. Marker can be reached from U.S. 61, 0.3 miles north of Bass Camp Lane, on the right when traveling north. Marker is mounted in kiosk on north side of visitor parking lot at U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Mississippi Lock and Dam No. 5 site

Marker Number:186
Marker Composition: Cast Bronze on a post

Text on Marker:

MISSISSIPPI RIVER

In its traverse of 2400 miles from Lake Itasca to the Gulf of Mexico, the Mississippi River falls 1475 feet, nearly two-thirds of which is within or along the eastern side of Minnesota. For 300 miles from Minneapolis, its course lies between rocky bluffs bounding a valley from one to six miles in width. The gorge has existed throughout the Pleistocene period of geologic time, during which it has served as a drainage channel for meltwaters from the glaciers of the Great Ice Ages. The melting of the ice at the end of each glacial epoch produced torrential floods which scoured the valley 200 feet below the present river surface. During the inter-glacial stages, after the ice had melted, the river, greatly reduced in volume and no longer able to transport sand and gravel, filled its valley to the present level.

The history of the Mississippi River during the last million years, while Minnesota and Wisconsin were undergoing repeated glaciation, is characterized by corresponding cycles of erosion and channel filling, the latter being the phase in which it is now engaged.

Erected by the Geological Society of Minnesota in cooperation with the Department of Highways State of Minnesota. 1960

Region: Southeastern Region

Date Updated: 20170226

Information Needed:

1. Marker Images

Condition of Marker: Fair
Do it Yourself Region: Karst Country – Southeast Corner
Verification: Done – Lee