Lock 1, one of the first locks built on the I & M Canal, was operating at the turn of the century. Its limestone was quarried locally, and the hydraulic cement used for mortar was also local. As a canal lock, it acted as a dam to maintain proper water depth for boats and to overcome changes in ground elevation. To lock through, an approaching boat entered the lock chamber, the gates were closed, and valves raised or lowered the water level so the boat could pass to another water level. In the late 1800s, it also provided water power for the Adelmann & Marx Tannery through a bypass channel that created a 10-foot fall of water to drive a water wheel. A shelter stood beside it for the lock tender, who operated the lock by hand with a wooden balance beam, and in the distance were the Public Landing and warehouses, with the towpath on the left.
