Jeremiah Burnham Tainter

Jeremiah Burnham Tainter (January 6, 1836 in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin – February 5, 1920) was an inventor and engineer known for having designed the Tainter gate in 1886.

[1] He began his work in hydrology in 1862, with the modification of pre-existing mill pond dams in Menomonie.

[2] Tainter was employed by Knapp, Stout & Co., the largest lumber manufacturer in the United States in the last quarter of the 19th century.

His brother, Andrew Tainter, was a principal in Knapp, Stout.

[clarification needed] Tainter's inventions include:

Side view cut-away diagram of the radial arm of the Tainter gate, Ice Harbor Dam , Snake River, Pasco, Washington (USACE)
Tainter gate from the back, or spillway, on the John H. Kerr Dam , Boydton, Virginia (USACE)