The county lacked the funds to maintain or restore the lock, and the dam, having been viewed as a barrier to spawning salmon, was eventually destroyed with use of explosives.

[1] A substantial portion of the project remains visible to this day, and has been said to be "one of the last tangible remnants in the Upper Willamette Valley of a time when river navigation played an important role in transporting freight and passengers.

The very early steamers Enterprise (115 ft.[8])and Hoosier[9] (50 ft; 5 tons[8]) operated up river from the place, known then as Martin's Landing, that was later selected to build the dam.

[10] The steamer Elk, 60 short tons (54 t), owned by Christopher E. Switzer, also ran on the Yamhill in the late 1850s but after a single season proved to be too large for the route.

[14] The State Rights Democrat, then a partisan newspaper, blamed the failure to construct the locks on Republican domination of politics in Yamhill County.

[14] On January 17, 1859, before Oregon was formally admitted to statehood, Christopher E. Switzer, owner of the steamer Elk filed an act with the territorial government to incorporate the Yamhill Water-Lock and Dam Company, which, with capital stock at the stated value of $50,000, proposed to build a lock at the mouth of the Yamhill sufficient to accommodate a vessel 60 short tons (54 t) in size, which was the same tonnage as the Elk.

[15] With its main office in McMinnville, the company's purpose, as stated in its articles of incorporation, was to build locks at the mouth of the Yamhill and at the rapids at Lafayette.

[1] The Oregon state legislature passed a law in 1876 which created a "franchise" to provide for the construction of locks on the Yamhill river at Lafayette.

[5] In early December 1892, Maj. Thomas H. Handbury (1841-1915) of the Corps of Engineers went along the route in a skiff and found it in "very good boating" condition, with the river about 12 feet (3.7 m) above the low water level.

"[5] Given the apparently adequate road, rail, and riverine transport situation, Major Handbury, who prepared the 1892 report, concluded that construction of a lock and dam at Lafayette was not important enough to the federal government for it to be funded and built.

[21] Also in November 1897, Brigadier General John M. Wilson informed by letter the Yamhill County commissioners that Congress had appropriated $160,000 in addition to the previous $40,000, thus providing enough money to construct the lock and dam.

[28] Certain portions of the project, including the lock keeper's dwelling, woodsheds, walks and fences, were to be completed within 60 days after the contractor's receiving the notification.

[3] The Yamhill river stayed high later than usual, and when the fall rains came, the cofferdam was washed away, so work had to be suspended until lower water and better weather arrived in 1900.

[3] In February 1900, the contractors, McGregor & Normile, had sued Portland resident George Taylor, for breach of contract in supplying cement, claiming damages of $1,537.50.

[33] On August 1, 1900, cofferdams were completed above and below the main dam crib section, and the river's entire flow was channeled through the lock chamber.

After an exchange of greetings with McMinnville's prominent citizens who had come to witness the arrival of the launch, Captain Langfitt and the reporter took the train back to Portland.

[33] The Morning Oregonian praised the completion of the work, saying that "from this time forward 'boats will run the year round between Portland and McMinnville', with plenty of water to insure quick and safe transit of freight.

After a December freshet, a 40 feet (12 m) long portion of a riprap protected section fell into the river, and the dam was being threatened with undermining by scour.

Ogden in charge, had 50 men at work sloping and laying stone on the banks above the lock to protect them from erosion during floods, as had recently occurred.

[52] On January 6, 1902, the Oregon City Transportation Company, also known as the "Yellow Stack Line" advertised regular service, on the steamer Altona from Portland to McMinnville.

[54] The sternwheel steamer Altona which had just resumed the run from Portland to McMinnville after a hiatus of about three weeks, was forced to proceed no further than Dayton on the Yamhill River.

[6] In 1905, a bill was introduced in the Congress by Sen. Charles W. Fulton, to pay the general contractors (Simon Normile, John F. Fastabend, and William F. McGregor) $30,000, reportedly for "losses sustained by the delay of the government in securing title to a site for the Yamhill locks.

[31] In practice this proved impossible because until the water rose to 12 feet (3.7 m) above the dam, the drop between the upper and lower pools was too great to permit safe passage of a steamer.

[31] On December 31, 1902, heavy rains caused the Yamhill River to rise very fast, and by that date the water was 5 feet (1.5 m) over the lock walls.

[66] In mid-September 1908, the water behind the dam was drained to allow a fish ladder to be built around it, and as a result, the river "scarcely floats a plank".

At the beginning there was practically no traffic on the Yamhill, and what there was steadily declined until, in 1921, only lone ton of freight went through the locks, traveling in solitary grandeur.

[73] In July 1924, the Greyhound Transportation Company proposed placing a small steamer on the Yamhill river that, if business warranted, would use the lock to serve on the stretch to McMinnville.

[75] In the 1930s a series of forest fires, known as the Tillamook Burn greatly increased the amount of salvaged logs shipped down the Yamhill River through the lock.

There was not sufficient navigation to justify the repair expense, but local farmers used the pool above the dam to draw water for irrigation, and pleasure boats used the waterway.

[84] About halfway along the east side of the water wall, runs over a jumble of stones, falling about 6 feet (1.8 m), which marks where the dam once stood.