Emrichsville Dam
The History:
The Emrichsville Dam is a low head dam on the White River constructed in 1899 in the near westside neighborhood of Haughville. Its name stems from the Emrick family who owned the land surrounding the dam when it was constructed. The dam is now owned by the City of Indianapolis. It was orignally installed as part of George Kessler's overall park project to develop Riverside Park upstream of the dam by creating a wider and deeper water area for recreational purposes. The area was nicknamed Lake Indianapolis and the boat ramp allowed for boating and water-skiing in the area north of 38th St. In more recent times it supplemented Indy's municipal water supply.
The dam has been notably breached three times in its extended history. In 1908 the river undercut the dam beneath the center of it and required significant repairs to maintain the recreational interests of property owners upstream. A section of it also collapsed in 1964 following a flooding event. And in 2018, the dam partially collapsed and was replaced with a more ecologically friendly rock dam further upstream near Riverside Park. Surprisingly the dam survived the Great Flood of 1913 despite its poor condition due to water flowing around the outside of the abutments in the spillway in addition to over the top of it.
The city has received funding to remove portions of the dam in the coming years to increase safety. This work may impact the cache in the future but the work is still in the early planning stages.
Sources:
Emrichsville Dam - Discover White River
The Death of a Dam (class900indy.com)
The Cache:
Do not attempt to enter the water near the dam. Dams create a vortex of water that can trap even the strongest swimmers underwater. There is no need to enter the water for this cache. This cache also involves climbing of the structure. Please respect your personal limits and only complete this cache if you are physically able to. If the water level is exceptionally high, it also may not be possible to reach the cache without swimming or wading. I would strongly encourage coming back another day if that happens due to the proximity to dam. Cache at your own risk!
The dam is located just off the White River Trail making it easily accesible by bike or on foot. There are also parking coordinates below for street parking if you choose to drive. Please do not park in the private lots nearby. When it was originally installed, both sides had castle-like abutments. Today, only the eastern "castle" and spillway remains and that is the main focus of this cache. As evidenced by the graffiti, this can be a hangout for young muggles but you can often find the area free of people. You'll probably have your best luck in the mornings or winter if you are concerned about that.
To complete this cache, all you must do is climb into the circular castle portion of the abutment at the posted coordinates and post a picture of you (face not required and even a thumbs up will do!) or a personal item at the top. The hint and gallery photo contain tips on how to best approach the climb. Logs without proper photos will be deleted. See a sample below! There is no need to climb onto the parapet unless you want to up the terrain even more.
Virtual Rewards 4.0 - 2024-2025
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between January 17, 2024 and January 17, 2025. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 4.0 on the Geocaching Blog.