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Barge Canal

A Canal Gunpowder Blast: The Day Verona Beach’s Waterfront Was Razed

October 25, 2021 by Bill Orzell 2 Comments

Map of Sylvan Beach The Oneida County resorts of Sylvan and Verona Beach are located on the sandy eastern shore of Oneida Lake. This twenty-two mile lake, and its geographic orientation, affords this setting spectacular sunsets. These factors made the eastern shore a desirable vacation destination in the nineteenth century, and a thriving resort community developed along Wood Creek.

Originally, Wood Creek had been improved in the late eighteenth century by the Western Inland Lock Navigation Company as part of that private entity’s effort to link the Mohawk River to Lake Ontario. [Read more…] about A Canal Gunpowder Blast: The Day Verona Beach’s Waterfront Was Razed

Filed Under: History, Western NY Tagged With: Barge Canal, Erie Canal, Fires, Oneida County, Oneida Lake, Sylvan Beach, Transportation History, Verona Beach

Canal Blow-Out: The Big Break in Syracuse in 1907

August 15, 2021 by Bill Orzell 1 Comment

post card of damaged canal vessels being burned to hasten their removal after the Big Break in Syracuse when a culvert over Onondoga Creek collapsedIn 1903, voters in New York State ratified the Barge Canal referendum which provided for construction of our present canal system. The Barge Canal design is an integrated improvement of natural lakes and rivers, with only short stretches of pure canal to eliminate bends and to link the natural bodies together.

The Barge Canal was designed to be used only by motorized vessels. The former canals had been completely man-made, elevated above and across the natural bodies of water. This feature allowed the older version of the canal to nearly eliminate any current, thereby making draft animals practical. [Read more…] about Canal Blow-Out: The Big Break in Syracuse in 1907

Filed Under: History, Mohawk Valley, Western NY Tagged With: Barge Canal, Erie Canal, Maritime History, Onondaga Creek, Syracuse, Transportation History

Henry Ford’s Barge Canal Fleet: A Short History

August 5, 2021 by Bill Orzell 8 Comments

River RougeFew industrialists in the history of the United States have been so widely involved in multiple production operations as Henry Ford. His business philosophy was to operate and control all phases of his manufacture, which included transportation between production facilities.

Certain operations of his automobile empire involved the transportation of raw materials, and completed sub-assemblies between the main plants in the Detroit area, and satellite plants on the eastern seaboard.

Ford, a trenchant industrialist, realized that the New York State Barge Canal offered business a tremendous economic corridor between the Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean. [Read more…] about Henry Ford’s Barge Canal Fleet: A Short History

Filed Under: History, Mohawk Valley, New York City Tagged With: Barge Canal, Erie Canal, ford, Industrial History, Maritime History, Navy, Transportation History, World War Two

Mohawk River Bridge Dams: Engineering Landmarks

October 7, 2019 by Mike Riley 2 Comments

The three span dam at Lock 8 in Scotia in 2013The Mohawk River has been used as a transportation corridor since the beginning of human settlement. Indigenous people used the river to move east and west, as did the first European explorers and those who followed. The river was shallow and relatively slow flowing. Along the 120-miles between Rome and the Hudson river, there are two waterfalls. The largest of the two is near the eastern end of the river, where the water flows over a 90-foot high falls at Cohoes. At Little Falls the river flows over a series of rapids that are 45-feet in height. [Read more…] about Mohawk River Bridge Dams: Engineering Landmarks

Filed Under: History, Mohawk Valley, Nature, Western NY Tagged With: Architecture, Barge Canal, Barge Canal Historic District, Erie Canal, floods, Historic Preservation, Mohawk River

A Sunken Buffalo Canal Barge, A Coal Baron, A Canal Diver & A Publisher

July 25, 2019 by David Brooks Leave a Comment

george bleistein articleOn June 17, 1909 the Broadalbin Herald newspaper reported on a canal boat that sunk in Fort Hunter that was loaded with 240 tons of salt. The barge, George Bleistein had been hauling the salt in a “double header” (both barges being towed together) along with the Col. J.H. Horton. Both barges were from Buffalo and captained by George H. Ray of Port Byron. The George Bleistein sank ON the Schoharie Creek Aqueduct.

Reportedly, a steam pump and diver were required to raise the boat and the cargo was thought to be a total loss. The bags of salt were consigned to The International Salt Company of New York, which continues today in Clarks Summit, Pennsylvania. [Read more…] about A Sunken Buffalo Canal Barge, A Coal Baron, A Canal Diver & A Publisher

Filed Under: History, Mohawk Valley, Western NY Tagged With: Barge Canal, Buffalo, Erie Canal, Maritime History

Matton Shipyard Preservation Receives Funding

December 17, 2017 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Matton Shipyard workersThe Erie Canalway Heritage Fund, the nonprofit partner of the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor, has announced funding from the New York State Regional Economic Development Council initiative (REDC) for the Matton Shipyard Preservation and Adaptive Reuse Initiative in Cohoes.

Announced on December 13, the funding award of $373,400 is expected to be used to stabilize three original structures of the early 20th century ship building and repair facility, remediate environmental hazards, and stabilize 740-feet of Hudson River shoreline to prevent further erosion. [Read more…] about Matton Shipyard Preservation Receives Funding

Filed Under: History Tagged With: Barge Canal, Erie Canalway Heritage Corridor, Historic Preservation, Hudson River, Matton Shipyard

Guarding the Barge Canal During World War One

September 16, 2016 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

The Historians LogoThis week on “The Historians” podcast, Bob Cudmore relates how his grandmother, Margaret Cook, boarded soldiers who were guarding the New York Barge Canal lock in Randall during World War I. He also has the story of German native Bill Fennhahn who became an American war hero in World War II.  Listen to the podcast here. [Read more…] about Guarding the Barge Canal During World War One

Filed Under: History Tagged With: Barge Canal, Erie Canal, Military History, Podcasts, World War One

Little Falls’ Lock 17: An Engineering Marvel

July 7, 2016 by Craig Williams Leave a Comment

lock 17 postcardThe Little Falls Journal and Courier proclaimed in a banner headline on their July 4th, 1916 edition that the celebration for the completion of Lock 17 “will go down in history.”

The paper stated that the pageantry and parades of the previous Friday and Saturday were a tremendous success. “Nothing so elaborate, so gorgeous, so successful from an historic, an artistic and idealistic point of view was ever before undertaken in this city… The crowd on Friday was conservatively estimated at four thousand and on Saturday it was as large or larger.”

Featured throughout the festivities were the recently arrived immigrant communities, the “New Americans” that Governor Whitman especially recognized in his remarks that Friday. [Read more…] about Little Falls’ Lock 17: An Engineering Marvel

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, History, Mohawk Valley, Western NY Tagged With: Barge Canal, Engineering History, Erie Canal, Little Falls, Transportation History

The Erie Canal Marks A 200th Anniversary

May 16, 2016 by Craig Williams 6 Comments

aqueduct bridge at rochesterOn May 17, 1816, the State’s Canal Commissioners met in New York City. This was their first meeting since being reauthorized by the legislature on April 17th, just a few weeks earlier. Five commissioners were appointed by the legislature – Stephen Van Rensselaer, DeWitt Clinton, Samuel Young, Joseph Ellicott and Myron Holley. Several of them had been canal commissioners since 1810. During that period they had surveyed much of the route in person and had kept the dream of the waterway alive during the intervening dismal years of war on their frontier (War of 1812). At the May 17th meeting the commissioners initiated actions that ensured that construction of the Erie Canal would begin a year later. [Read more…] about The Erie Canal Marks A 200th Anniversary

Filed Under: History Tagged With: Barge Canal, DeWitt Clinton, Erie Canal, Genesee River, Political History, Transportation History, Van Rensselaers

NYS Barge Canal on National Register of Historic Places

October 22, 2014 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

nys_barge_canal_system_map-100The National Park Service has announced that it has listed the New York State Barge Canal on the National Register of Historic Places. The designation recognizes the New York State Canal System as a nationally significant work of early twentieth century engineering and construction that affected transportation and maritime commerce for nearly half a century.

The New York State Barge Canal National Register Historic District spans 450 miles and includes the four branches of the state’s canal system: the Erie, Champlain, Oswego, and Cayuga-Seneca canals– all much enlarged versions of waterways that were initially constructed during the 1820s. The nomination evaluated 791 features and included 552 contributing structures and buildings. [Read more…] about NYS Barge Canal on National Register of Historic Places

Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Capital-Saratoga, History Tagged With: Architecture, Barge Canal, Barge Canal Historic District, Cayuga-Seneca Canal, Champlain Canal, Erie Canal, Erie Canalway Heritage Corridor, Industrial History, Labor History, Maritime History, National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places, OPRHP, Oswego Canal, Transportation

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