06/04/2026
Can you find Pigeon Creek on this map?
It's Monday, so why not remind everyone how much the region has changed in the last 63 years by showing a map older than Star Wars?
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Pittsburgh District's cartographers charted our territory in similar style for about 40 years, with a dotted line and yellow halo surrounding the district. Soon after this map was published in 1963, our downstream boundary was adjusted to include the then-new Hannibal Locks and Dam near New Martinsville, West Virginia. Since that adjustment, the Pittsburgh District’s boundary has not changed.
There are many interesting things to note in this map: the legend on the right side of the page offers an explanation of symbols, the shaded areas around our reservoirs are drainage basins - this is the area that eventually drains to each dam.
The green-colored reservoirs were under construction when this map was drawn. Near Ravenna, Ohio, West Branch Reservoir was later renamed after U.S. Representative Michael J. Kirwan.
The red-colored reservoirs were authorized by law but not yet under construction in February 1963. Some of these, like Eagle Creek Reservoir, Redbank Reservoir and Muddy Creek Reservoir, were never built. Woodcock Creek Lake opened in the 1970s, and Union City Dam was built without a permanent pool. Stonewall Jackson Lake replaced earlier plans for West Fork River Reservoir, above Weston, West Virginia, instead of below it.
In our navigation mission, you’ll see many locks and dams that no longer exist. As part of a regional effort along the entire Ohio River, all numbered locks and dams were replaced by larger structures, like Hannibal and Pike Island.
