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Barge Canal

New Accessible Oneida Lake Boat Launch Construction Underway

November 5, 2022 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

Location of new boat launch site on Cove Road, Oneida LakeNew York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has announced the start of construction of a new boat launch on the Barge Canal at Cove Road in the town of Verona, Oneida County, to enhance fishing and boating recreational opportunities.

The boat launch will connect to Oneida Lake and its world-class fishing. [Read more…] about New Accessible Oneida Lake Boat Launch Construction Underway

Filed Under: Recreation, Western NY Tagged With: Barge Canal, boating, DEC, fishing, Oneida County, Oneida Lake, paddling, Verona

A Brief History of the Mohawk River

June 20, 2022 by Guest Contributor 3 Comments

painting of Mohawk RiverImagine the Mohawk River flowing with more force than Niagara Falls. Around 22,000 years ago, that’s exactly how it was. During the last ice age, the Laurentide Glacier began to melt, forming a large lake atop the glacier. As the glacier receded north, it opened access to the Mohawk River, which for thousands of years had been buried beneath the two-mile thick block of ice. Suddenly, all that lake water had somewhere to go.

The deluge of water that was released was so great that it carved an entirely new riverbed. It was so great in fact, that geologists gave the river a new name; the Iromohawk. Water rushed down the valley, carving away the cliffs of Clifton Park, the gorge at Cohoes, and the channel at Rexford. The river also curved back onto itself, creating the bend around Schenectady that the Mohawk follows today. [Read more…] about A Brief History of the Mohawk River

Filed Under: Capital-Saratoga, History, Mohawk Valley, Nature, Recreation, Western NY Tagged With: Arent Van Curler, Barge Canal, Clifton Park, Cohoes, Engineering History, Environmental History, Erie Canal, Geology, Mohawk River, nature, Rexford, Schenectady, Schenectady County, Schenectady County Historical Society, Transportation History

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, Schoharie Valley

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, Schoharie Valley

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

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