Milburnie Dam Removal

The City of Raleigh is removing the old Milburnie Dam on Neuse River, so I figured I'd head over and get a couple pictures before it's gone.  I headed to Buffaloe Road Athletic Park to pick up the Neuse River Trail, part of the Capital Area Greenway.  Although November is more than half over, there is still a lot fall color along the trail.

It was about 3 miles or so to where a footbridge leads over the river just past the dam.  Although it's Saturday, there were doing construction work to remove the dam today.

I crossed the river and went down to the sandy beach in front of the dam for some pictures.

The original dam had been built of wood in the mid 1800s.  Around the turn of the century, the dam was rebuilt with rock and masonry.  It operated as a paper mill, a grist mill, and to generate hydroelectric power, operating until the 1980s.  Upsteam of the dam is an area of wetlands that had been formed by the dam.  With its removal, I could see the water draining from these wetlands.  I suppose this will revert back to floodplain forest.

Since the fall color was still nice, I stopped at North Wake Landfill District Park on the way home.  Climbing to the Top of the Hill, the leaves were really pretty around the Falls River subdivision.

Looking south, I could see the Raleigh skyline, but it was too sunny for a picture.