Just upstream from this location, Milburnie Dam has slowed the waters of the Neuse River for more than 150 years. In the mid-1800s, the original Milburnie Dam was only eight feet tall and made of wood, and water flowing over it powered a paper mill reportedly destroyed during Union occupation in April 1865. Around 1900, the dam was rebuilt with rock and masonry and a hydroelectric plant was added, supplying electricity for Raleigh's streetcars through a 6,600 volt line that ran six miles into Raleigh, but the plant was dismantled after several years of use. In the mid-1930s, water flowing over the dam powered a gristmill where farmers brought corn to be ground into meal or flour, but the mill ceased operation in the 1940s and the building later burned. In the early 1980s, another hydroelectric plant was built on the dam and operated for several years before shutting down. Today, although the dam no longer grinds corn or generates electricity, the impounded waters behind it have created wildlife habitat, with deep, slow-moving water and adjacent wetlands supporting fish, beavers, water snakes, hawks, herons, turtles, and more. Because old dams that no longer serve their original purpose are sometimes removed to restore rivers to their original channels, Milburnie Dam could eventually be removed, bringing hydrologic and wildlife habitat changes to this part of the Neuse River.