Erie Canal Lift Bridges

erie canal lift bridge

This Swing Bridge at Albion, NY is just one of many that had to be replaced for the 1905-1918 NYS Barge Canal enlargement. The masonry buildings you see on the other side are typical of those that crowded close to the canal at villages like this. The modern canal was to be wider, with much … Read more

The Erie Canal Miracle – A River Route Through The Mountains

The Erie Canal Miracle

Unlike the other eastern rivers, which started at the TOP of the Appalachian Mountain Chain, only the Mohawk in New York State started on the WEST SIDE of the Ridge, and flowed ACROSS the mountains to the Atlantic. The red arrows in the left image are pointing to the original Erie Canal (the fine line) … Read more

Erie Canal Images from Vintage Postcards

vintage postcard widewaters

. Many of the Erie Canal images we use here came from vintage postcards.  Today we have texts and tweets.  In the earliest years of the twentieth century though, they had penny postcards.   Three things came together in the early 1900’s in this country that created a social phenomenon not unlike texting and tweets:  … Read more

Upside Down Bridge – A favorite local story

upside-down-bridge

The picture above includes the top of one of Lockport’s modern lock gates. The railroad bridge you see crossing the canal in the distance doesn’t look like most other bridges. Trains cross this bridge on the very top, and the trusswork that gives the bridge strength between supports is beneath the tracks, rather than above. … Read more

The Era of the Erie Canal – 3 Programs Made for Cable TV in 2006

era of the erie canal

  Episode 1 – Erie Canal Bankwatch Tom Ashbery was an 84-year-old gentleman who walked over ten miles each day watching and listening of leaks in the western section of the Erie Canal near Albion, NY.  This program explains why he did that, along with other details of the Canal’s story that are often overlooked. … Read more

Erie Canal Change Bridges – Changing Sides: Not Direction

change bridge

The bridge you see in the picture above is like many others that crossed the Erie Canal during the latter half of the nineteenth century, but this particular bridge was used for an unusual purpose.  This bridge – which was moved from it’s original location to this park in Palmyra – was a change bridge.  It’s … Read more

Surveying the Erie Canal – The Essential Skill

surveying the Erie Canal

Early surveyors used transits like this one to lay out the course of the original Erie Canal across New York State.  Though cutting-edge for their day, these instruments were primitive by modern standards, and were prone to errors due to careless use and to rough handling (e.g. being carried on horseback).  Even without errors, the … Read more

Opening Ceremonies – Measuring the Speed of Sound

    Governor Dewitt Clinton and his party being carried on the Seneca Chief from Buffalo to New York in October of 1825.  The Governor was riding a wave of popularity and of self-confidence because of the Erie’s success!  Cannons – including naval arms that had been confiscated from the British during the War of 1812 – … Read more

Holland Land Company – The Erie Canal Connection

holland land company

Thisey The Holland Land Company consisted of a group of Dutch investors.  They bought the 3.3 million acres of land from Robert Morris shortly after the American Revolution.  Morris was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, and was known as the financier of the Revolution. Joseph Ellicott managed the Holland Land Company … Read more

The Medina Aqueduct

medina aqueduct erie canal

This picture of the so-called “enlarged” Erie (ca 1862-1914) at Medina was taken between 1903 and 1914. The two yellow arrows are pointing to a falls in the Oak Orchard Creek, and to the culvert (insert) that allows the creek to pass under the canal, respectively (see the panorama below). The canal was deliberately routed … Read more

Two Transit Roads

transit roads

  Straight roads aren’t uncommon of course, but not many have histories that go back as far as these two that cross the Erie Canal in Western New York State.   Joseph Ellicott was the resident general agent of the Holland Land Company, which owned the 3.3 million acre tract that today is Western New … Read more

Erie Canal Bankwatch – Searching For Leaks Since 1825

Muskrats were notorious for digging their homes into the banks of the Original Erie Canal, but the banks of the modern Barge Canal are so large that animal activity isn’t the threat it used to be.   Leaks were common in especially the original canal, and “hurry-up” boats like this were expected to get to … Read more

Erie Canal Syracuse – Salt City

erie canal syracuse salt sheds

The Erie Canal at Syracuse – Salt sheds at Syracuse, NY in about 1900. Before modern refrigeration, salt was an essential commodity used to preserve food. It’s no accident that the original Erie Canal was routed south from Rome to Syracuse where salt was harvested on evaporating tables like these. Notice the slanting roofs that … Read more

The Key Players – A Canal Built by Non-professionals

Thomas Jefferson The great visionary president Thomas Jefferson was NOT a supporter of New York’s plan to build the Erie Canal!  Remember that he’d watched his friend and fellow-Virginian George Washington fail in his attempt to canalize the Potomac River.  When he heard about the project in 1809 he said: “Making a canal 350 miles … Read more