Dam in the Barrens

The Dam in the Barrens was a makeshift structure built by the Losers' Club in June 1958 on the Kenduskeag Stream in Derry, Maine. Designed and constructed by Ben Hanscom, the dam was the first major collaborative project of the group, bringing together Bill Denbrough, Eddie Kaspbrak, Ben Hanscom, Richie Tozier, and Stanley Uris. Its construction and subsequent destruction by Officer Nell marked a turning point in the children's summer, forging their bond and leading directly to their shared confrontation with the entity known as It.

Design and Construction

On the day after school let out, Ben Hanscom, who had been chased into the Barrens by Henry Bowers and his friends, stumbled upon Bill Denbrough and Eddie Kaspbrak by the stream. The next day, Ben returned with boards, a sledgehammer, and a shovel, and showed Bill and Eddie how to build a proper dam. His design was a simple but effective cofferdam: two boards driven into the streambed facing each other, with the space between filled with rocks, sand, and mud. A third board was placed as a strut against the downstream board to brace the structure against the current. The dam worked immediately, creating a pool upstream and diverting the stream's flow. Richie Tozier and Stanley Uris arrived later and joined the work, and by four o'clock the dam had been reinforced with scavenged materials including four bald tires, the rusty door of a 1949 Hudson Hornet, and a piece of corrugated-steel siding, forming two wings that blocked the water's escape around the sides. The resulting pool had created a new piece of bogland on the far side of the stream.

Confrontation with Officer Nell

The dam's success was short-lived. The water backed up into the city's gravity drains, causing sinks and washing machines to stop draining and outflow pipes to pour into cellars on Witcham, Jackson, and Kansas Streets. Officer Nell arrived and confronted the five boys, initially furious. Ben stepped forward and admitted responsibility, saying "I showed them how to do it. It's my fault." Bill, Eddie, Richie, and Stan immediately stepped up beside him, each claiming their own part in the project. Nell's anger softened; he explained the drainage system and told them they had backed water up into six of the eight central catch-basins. He ordered them to tear the dam down, but he did not report them, instead writing on his report that a tree had blown down across the stream. Before leaving, he made them promise to stay together when playing in the Barrens, a promise that became a foundational rule for the Losers' Club.

Significance and Aftermath

The dam was the catalyst that transformed a loose group of isolated children into a cohesive unit. Ben's engineering skill earned him the respect of the others, and Bill's leadership was cemented when he stepped forward to share responsibility. The shared experience of building, defending, and then dismantling the dam created a bond that would sustain them through the summer's horrors. The dam also directly led to the group's first collective discussion of the supernatural events plaguing Derry. Sitting by the dam's remains, Bill told the story of George's photograph that had winked at him, and Eddie and Ben shared their own encounters with the leper and the mummy. This exchange of stories marked the moment the Losers' Club began to understand that they were facing a single, shape-shifting entity. The dam itself became a symbol of their collective power and vulnerability, a memory that would resurface decades later when they returned to Derry to face It again. In the final confrontation, the dam's memory was invoked as a touchstone of their shared childhood and the promise they had made to each other. The dam was also a practical lesson in the consequences of their actions, as the flooding it caused demonstrated how their small acts could have large, unintended effects on the town. The dam's construction and destruction were the first domino in a chain of events that would lead them into the sewers and ultimately to the Ritual of Chüd.