Conewango Dam, 1865 to 2009

Conewango Dam, 2009

In the last week of September, the Conewango Dam, seen here looking north up the Conewango Creek from the Pennsylvania Avenue East Bridge, was removed to allow better access for canoeists and kayakers and to improve local fishing upstream. Many people who grew up here will miss its display and the reflections it created of buildings on Water Street, to the left. However, its memory lives on forever in this painting by local artist Irish Smith, whose other paintings can be seen daily at the Warren Public Library on Market Street as part of their permanent exhibits.

The dam had been used to power mills and to collect timber to be floated downstream to build the city of Pittsburgh in days of yore. The location of the dam was the site of a 17th Century Seneca fishing village at the confluence of the Conewango Creeek and the Allegheny River. The fishermen seen above are carrying on a 300-year tradition.

The structure, now dismantled without a trace, was built in 1920, according to a local historian, but various versions of it have been around since the Civil War.

Prints of Conewango Dam, 2009 are available through Kinzua Country Frameworks on State Street in North Warren. Notecards are available at Cady's Hallmark in downtown Warren on Liberty Street. Proceeds from the sale of the original artwork, prints and cards go directly to the Allegheny Musarium Association. The image is copyrighted and used by permission of the artist. Reproduction in any form without permission is not permitted.