🚧 Broken Down Dam

Broken Down Dam was a concrete hydroelectric gravity dam on the Otter Tail River in Otter Tail County, Minnesota in the United States. Constructed in 1908 to supply power to the nearby town of Fergus Falls, the dam suddenly failed on September 24, 1909. Collapse of the dam caused the failure of four others downstream as well as significant property damage. There were no deaths. City officials left the damaged structure in place and today its ruins lie along the recreational Otter Tail River State Water Trail at Broken Down Dam Park. The only flood recorded in the history of Fergus Falls was due to this disaster.