When Dyersburg was a River Town

Dyer County was founded in 1823, and Dyersburg soon followed, nestled on the banks of the Forked Deer River. Anyone who has spent time in Dyersburg has heard how the river shaped the town's growth. But looking at the river today, you might wonder, "How could boats of any size navigate this winding stream, often choked with limbs and debris?" That's a great question, and it's central to our history as a river town. Our story as a river town begins even before the steamboat Grey Eagle successfully reached Dyersburg from the Mississippi River in 1836. While Dyersburg wasn't formally incorporated until January 10, 1850, it had already been divided into 86 town lots 25 years earlier. Dyersburg was considered the farthest point a steamboat could travel upriver, seemingly destined to be a bustling river port. From the earliest days, settlers used flat-bottomed boats and keelboats to transport goods south and west to the Mississippi, opening up markets for their products. However, the Forked Deer River wasn't always a reliable route. It was prone to becoming impassable with snags, logs, and other debris, especially after floods when the waters receded. The journey from Dyersburg to the Mississippi was about 50 miles, filled with twists and turns.

An 1894 survey report sheds light on the challenges:
"The first section, from Dyersburg to Key Corner, 20 miles, has a fall of 6.5 feet. The width averages 65 feet above the South Fork, and from 150 to 200 feet below that point, with occasional narrower paces. The banks are 8 feet to 10 feet above low water, and usually in fair shape. The depth is, as a rule, good, there being only a few shallow places, and, the fall not being great, these could, I think, be readily improved." The report continued, describing the second section: "9.5 miles in length, has a fall of nearly 16 feet at low water, and one stretch, a fall of about 5 feet in 1.5 miles. The river widens to about 200 feet, the depth is slight—often less than 1.5 feet." This meant the river was only navigable when water levels were high. The State of Tennessee cut a canal in 1845, connecting the Forked Deer to the Mississippi River (later connecting to the Obion when the Mississippi River rerouted farther west.). This approximately 3⁄4-mile-long canal, cut in a distinctive "tiger tail" shape that can still be seen today, bypassed 19 miles of the lower Forked Deer. This made navigation to the Mississippi River much faster, but the problem of the upper section's navigability remained.

TigerTail Canal

For around 20 years, the State of Tennessee invested in improving the Forked Deer between Dyersburg and the Tiger Tail Canal. They dredged mud and sand, cleared snags, and removed trees undercut by the water. Surveys continued into the early 1900s, exploring ways to make the river usable year-round. It was reported in 1894 in one of the state sponsored surveys that, “Old citizens of Dyersburg state that during this period the river from the Mississippi to Dyersburg on the Middle Fork, and for some distance up South Fork, was navigable for small boats during the greater part of the year, and that most of the produce of the country–lumber, corn, cotton, tobacco, and hogs–went to markets through this channel.” Ideas ranged from dredging a deeper channel to installing locks or baffes to control water flow. Ultimately, all options proved too expensive. While maintaining year-round navigation to Dyersburg proved unfeasible, the section of the river from the Obion River downstream remained vitally important, especially for the lumber industry.


Small "packet" steamers like this visited Dyersburg

In my next article, we'll explore the beginnings of the Mengel Box Company and its profound impact on the growth and transformation of Dyer County.