The ground between the powerhouse and the river was called the esplanade, and it was paved and kept immaculately clean. That area is now under 30 feet of water, and the lock wall is 100 yards from the current river edge. Children from Chilo picked blackberries to earn money for an annual trip to Coney Island, traveling there on the Island Queen. The boat ramp was originally the road leading to the esplanade. Barges delivered coal for the Chilo Lock and Dam, and before 1940 a pulley house at the top of the ramp pulled coal cars up tracks, after which an electric rail moved the cars to a coal pit behind the garage.