The Story of the Afterword New York State Canals Today, the name “Barge Canal” is no longer an accurate description of the marine activity on New York’s canals. Trains and trucks have taken over the transport of most cargo that once moved on barges along the canals, but the Historical and Commercial Information canals remain a viable waterway for navigation. Now, pleasure boats, tour boats, cruise ships, canoes and kayaks comprise the majority of vessels that ply the waters of the legendary Erie and the Champlain, Oswego and Cayuga- ROY G. FINCH Seneca canals, which now constitute the 524-mile New York State Canal System. State Engineer and Surveyor While the barges now are few, this network of inland waterways is a popular tourism destination each year for thousands of pleasure boaters as well as visitors by land, who follow the historic trade route that made New York the “Empire State.” Across the canal corridor, dozens of historic sites, museums and community festivals in charming port towns and bustling cities invite visitors to step back in time and re-live the early canal days when “hoggees” guided mule-drawn packet boats along the narrow towpaths. Today, many of the towpaths have been transformed into Canalway Trail segments, extending over 220 miles for the enjoyment of outdoor enthusiasts from near and far who walk, bike and hike through scenic and historic canal areas. In 1992, legislation was enacted in New York State which changed the name of the Barge Canal to the “New York State Canal System” and transferred responsibility for operation and maintenance of the Canal System from the New York State Department of Transportation to the New York State Canal Corporation, a newly created subsidiary of the New York State Thruway Authority. With this act, a new era of rebirth dawned along the Canal System as New York State and communities all along the canals embarked on a massive effort to revitalize the Canal System and transform the waterway into a world-class destination for tourism and recreation. Through a strong commit- ment to preservation of the canals’ rich heritage and encouragement of sensitive development along these waterways, New York State has taken the essential steps to ensure that the Canal System and its historic legacy will be preserved and fostered into the 21st century as a vital resource to be ePnajgoey e2d8 for Page 1 generations to come. T E C H N I C A L T E R M S N O T D E F I N E D I N T E X T A beam placed across the head of a lock as a B u f f e r b e a m . protection to the lock gates. A cleated cylinder (called a barrel) revolving around a Capstan. spindle built on a wall and operated by electricity. A rope fastened to a barge can be thrown around the capstan for the purpose of towing a barge into a lock. A steel box located on a lock wall containing C o n t r o l l e r b o x . switches for the control of the lock machinery. A structure built across a watercourse to confine and keep D a m . back flowing water. (A) A fixed dam is a permanent structure without movable parts. (B) A movable dam is one which can b e s e t u p o r t h r o w n d o w n a s d e s i r e d . H o l l o w s p a c e s , o r t u n n e l s , w i t h i n l o c k w a l l s F e e d c u l v e r t s . through which water for filling, or "feeding" a lock and for emptying it is conducted. That part of a canal which is an artificial channel-not in L a n d l i n e . a river or lake. Branch canals leading into the main channels. L a t e r a l c a n a l s . The passage of a boat or boats through a lock. The L o c k a g e . raising or lowering of a boat or boats from one water-level to another water-level. Two gates which swing together into the form of a M i t r e g a t e s . w i d e l e t t e r V . A p a s s a g e w a y f o r s u r p l u s w a t e r f r o m a c a n a l o r r e s e r v o i r . Spillway. The highest level or elevation reached. S u m m i t l e v e l . A lock in which the water for filling and emptying is Siphon lock. controlled by an application of the siphon principle, as d i s t i n - guished from a lock filled and emptied by water controlled by v a l v e s . The level affected by the flow of the tide. (In the T i d e w a t e r l e v e l . Hudson River the tide reaches as far as Troy.) The carrying content of a boat state in town. T o n s c a p a c i t y . A n o v e r f l o w , o r w e i r , f o r t h e e s c a p e o f s u r p l u s w a t e r W a s t e w e i r . form a canal or reservoir. Page 27 Page 2 2. Little Falls lock (cid:190) lift of 40½ feet. 3. Siphon lock at Oswego (cid:190) first siphon lock constructed in the United States. 4. Movable dams: a. Bridge type. b. Taintor gate type. 1. Concrete dams forming Delta and Hinckley reservoirs. 2. Massive steel guard-gates. 3. Curved fixed dam at Crescent. 4. 306 railroad and highway bridges. 5. Waste weirs, automatic spillways. 6. 50-foot Taintor gates. The account of the history of the Erie Canal and the “lateral” 7. Power-houses for operation of locks and movable canals, as referenced by Roy Finch, was written in 1925 in dams. celebration of the 100th anniversary of the Erie Canal. 8. High embankments carrying the canal over Mr.Finch was employed with the New York State Engineer Irondequoit and Oak Orchard creeks; and the Erie andSurveyor, a defunct governmental agency that managed the "Culebra cut" of 65 feet depth south of the city of Canal System from the 1850’s to the mid-1900’s. He was Rochester. intrigued by the canals and, in celebration of the birth of the 9. Barge Canal terminals at Pier 6, New York City and canal, thought it useful to share his knowledge and experience other points. with all. J. Total appropriations to date for Barge Canal purposes, including terminals and grain elevators, are $17,729,774. The Afterword provides readers with a description of the Canal System from a late 20th century perspective. All text Copyright © 1925, State of New York, State Engineer and Surveyor Page 26 PageC 3opyright renewed © 1998, New York State Canal Corporation THE STORY OF THE TABULATION OF INTERESTING FACTS NEW YORK STATE CANALS A. The original Erie Canal begun in 1817, completed in 1825. B. Enlargement to 7-foot draft completed in 1862. C. Tolls abolished in 1882. GOVERNOR DEWITT CLINTON'S DREAM D. First Barge Canal work started in 1905. Barge Canal opened to traffic May 15, 1918. “As a bond of union between the Atlantic and Western states, E. The Barge Canal consists of: it may prevent the dismemberment of the American Empire. 1. Erie (cid:190) across state from Troy on the Hudson River to As an organ of communication between the Hudson, the Tonawanda, Niagara River. Mississippi, the St. Lawrence, the Great Lakes of the north 2. Champlain (cid:190) north from Troy to Lake Champlain. and west and their tributary rivers, it will create the greatest inland trade ever witnessed. The most fertile and extensive 3. Oswego (cid:190) Three Rivers Point, near Syracuse, to Lake regions of America will vail themselves of its facilities for a Ontario. market. All their surplus productions, whether of the soil, the 4. Cayuga and Seneca (cid:190) branch connecting Cayuga and forest, the mines, or the water, their fabrics of art and their Seneca lakes with Erie. supplies of foreign commodities, will concentrate in the city of F. Length of canals: New York, for transportation abroad or consumption at 1. Erie (cid:190) 340.7 miles. home. Agriculture, manufactures, commerce, trade, naviga- 2. Champlain (cid:190) 62.6 miles. tion, and the arts will receive a correspondent encourage- 3. Oswego (cid:190) 23.8 miles. ment. The city will, in the course of time, become the granary of the world, the emporium of commerce, the seat of manu- 4. Cayuga and Seneca (cid:190) 27.1 miles. factures, the focus of great moneyed operations and the 5. Connecting rivers and lakes (cid:190) 347.1 miles. concentrating point of vast disposable, and accumulating 6. Total (cid:190) 801.3 miles. capita, which will stimulate, enliven, extend and reward the G. Dimensions: exertions of human labor and ingenuity, in all their processes General bottom width in lakes and canalized rivers — 200 feet. and exhibitions. And before the revolution of a century, the Minimum bottom width in land lines- 75 feet. whole island of Manhattan, covered with inhabitants and Usable size of locks (cid:190) 300 feet long by 44½ feet wide. replenished with a dense population, will constitute one vast city.” Clearance under bridge (cid:190) 5½ feet. H. Construction and operation of locks: SUCH was Clinton’s dream concerning the original Erie 1. Number of locks (cid:190) 57. Canal—the canal which seems so small to us not but which 2. Built of concrete. was the Grand Canal of our forefathers—the canal which for 3. Operated by electricity. many years was the model for canal-building throughout the 4. Gates opened or closed in 30 seconds. world—the canal which more than any other single agency was 5. Average time of lockage (cid:190) 10 to 30 minutes. responsible for the unprecedented development and prosperity 6. Lift of locks varies from 6 to 40½ feet. that came not alone to New York State but to the states beyond its I. Notable engineering features: western border and even to the whole country in the first half of 1. Five locks at Waterford-combined lift of 169 feet. Page 4 Page 25 The mechanical equipment at each locality is determined by the the nineteenth century. When Clinton wrote these words they requirements of traffic at the site. Some of the more important seemed to many as the vain imaginings of a most visionary terminals, such as those located at New York and Buffalo, are dreamer. But the dream came true, and every loyal New Yorker has provided with conveyor, semiportal, portal and locomotive cranes, reason to feel pride in that the canals have done for his State. belt conveyors, tiering machines, derricks, capstans, electric battery The history of transportation reads much the same in all lands— trucks, trailers and battery-charging outfits. In addition to the first came the highways, then the waterways and later the railways— freight-handling equipment, warehouses and transit sheds of steel, but in America, which was not settled until the waterways of brick, concrete or temporary wooden construction has been pro- Europe had been in use for years, the opening of waterways closely vided. followed the cutting of roads through the wilderness and in turn The State has gone a step farther and in order that its waterway the railroads antedated the canals by only a short time. These are may be of the greatest possible use has provided for the construc- circumstances which have given to America a peculiar history of tion of two modern grain elevators. At Gowanus bay terminal, rapid development. Our early highways were few and poor, and New York City, an elevator having a capacity for two million travel over them was very costly and beset with difficulties. Water- bushels has been built for the handling of grain carried by canal. ways had been improved for the benefit of the people of foreign This elevator has all the latest machinery for loading, unloading, lands, and accordingly progressive minds in America were busy conveying, cleaning, drying, weighing and storing grain. Previously with plans for like improvements here. George Washington, a New York City had virtually no facilities for canal grain traffic. surveyor and an engineer before he became a soldier and a The Gowanus terminal is the logical point of transfer between statesman, was acclaimed by early writers as the father of American canal and ocean commerce. The foundations for another grain canals. Before the Revolutionary war he had succeeded so far as to elevator have been built at Oswego. To meet an emergency, obtain official sanction for one of his projected plan At the close floating elevators have occasionally been provided at up-state locali- of the war, but before peace was declared, he started from his ties, to release Barge Canal carriers for more frequent trips. headquarters at New burgh ad made a journey through central New The total appropriation for the Canal System to date, including York, especially to view the possibilities for inland navigation. the terminals and grain elevators, is $170,729,774. This cost has The first waterway improvements in New York were made by a not been excessive, considering the magnitude and extent of the private company, chartered in 1791. Within five or six years the work, and an inspection of the waterway is the best proof of the natural streams had been improved so as to facilitate traffic to a care and fidelity with which the project has been carried out. considerable extent, but the need of something better was felt, Commerce, which depends on transportation, is the mainstay of although the people were not then ready to commence the great New York State. New York’s greatness in commerce, due to the undertaking which the situation demanded. The population west excellence of its transportation facilities, has given to the State a of the Genesee valley and even farther east was small, not because development that is the admiration of its sister states. New York those section os the state were not fertile and attractive, but people was not always first in commerce and industry. The turning point were slow to go far inland, where the bringing in of supplies and came with the completion of the original Erie Canal. The position the carrying out of products could be accomplished only at heavy thus attained has never been lost and that it may never be lost the expense and with great risk. State undertook and now has completed a thorough improvement In order to open the western country to settlers and to offer a and modernization of the waterways that have been so largely cheap and safe way to carry produce to a market, determined responsible for its greatness. efforts were made to provide for the construction of a canal across Page 24 Page 5 is otherwise variable according to the lift. The usual time varies from 10 to 30 minutes. The maximum allowable speed of boats in the improved canals is six miles per hour, except in river and lake sections, where the limit is ten miles per hour. The importance of the territory adjoining the Barge Canal is not generally appreciated. A study of the State’s population reveals the C.Y. Turner with fwaactte rthwaaty s7. 3 ½T hpeisr cceonnt doift iothne wpeaos pbler oluivgeh tw iatbhoinu tt wboy mthilee so orifg itnhael Copyright 1905, e connected ctNhaenew al lisYk,e ow rohkf’i cwsh hp fioocphuun eldaxteiisdot sna ncisoh waoinhnee -orteef ncetilthsiee tsoh anan t tdoh fve i tlwhlaheg oewsle ha occolreon sctsio ntuhennet trs.yt a, Atwes,e en see that about seven percent of the people and the supplies they c a s need shall have available a cheap means of transportation. By g n wi5. further study we learn that 77 percent of the State’s population is o2 Waters” ew York, shCanal in 18 w8d7iift fhepirneern fctiev anent m glwieli,e twsh oien fd tithswceoe wvneatryt etrhmwaiatl ye4ss6,. 8p 2eV rpcieeerwnctie nongft twthhiete hw isnhu otblejene ca mtr eiaflr eoosfm atn hdae he ol, NErie state lies within twenty miles of the Barge Canal system, while 71 riage of t Hight Schopening the aTannhdde st8ew8 ol ap ttetorencre sa ncrtae po tafh cteiht yer ecasarpneea cc taovrveee rwd iiinstth aain ndc a5eys0’ wsa nhrudicn h7, 0gm omoinitloge rsa ,n trrdeus crpeketscu torinvf ei3nly2g., “The Mar Witt Clinton eremony of o aaconnmdd botinhn reiemde pctaroonnvaesl ,d a nrhedisg pmhewcotatioyvsre lttyhr.u ecs ekT cthraeap faflicacir tigisee s r ecaaandndi l byf eea rpintpiclaerr eeafniseetl.dd tofo fri vae c Dehe Efficient terminals, or freight depots, are of the utmost impor- e t h n t tance to any modern waterway. They are the keys that give access n i to the sources of supply and to the markets and connecting o orati transportation routes. American waterways have been sadly lacking c de in such facilities. Early in the course of constructing the Barge al ur Canal, the State determined to provide these aids to commerce m A along its waterway. Accordingly terminals have been supplied at all the cities and nearly every village along the line of the canal and its connecting navigable rivers and lakes, there being more than 60 in all. The facilities at the several sites vary, but in general, these consist of docks, piers, wharves, harbors, freight-sheds, and me- chanical devices and in some cases railroad connections for the interchange of freight between rail and water carriers. Page 6 Page 23 the state. It was generally recognized that such a canal was greatly needed, but the magnitude of the undertaking and the doubt of the State’s ability to cope with the difficulties developed much erior strong opposition. For years the project struggled along before p u sufficient public sentiment could be aroused to demand its fulfill- or its s ment, and it was not until 1817 that the State actually undertook n f the construction of this canal. In those early days it was often w no referred to, in derision, as “Clinton’s big ditch.” k as This waterway, called the Erie Canal and famous the world over, w al was opened October 26, 1825. It was four feet deep and 40 feet n mi er wide, and at the beginning floated boats carrying 30 tons of freight. he t The first fleet to travel its full length was headed by the boat T al. “Seneca Chief,” bearing Governor Clinton, the Lieutenant- n mi Governor and a company of distinguished citizens; the start from Ter Buffalo on the morning of October 26 was accompanied by the nal firing of a cannon and this was echoed by the booming of a line of a C minalState cAalnbnanoyn sa sntdat idoonwedn atth seu iHtaubdles oinnt etrov aNlse awll Ythoer kw aCyi tayc—roa sgs rtahned s tsaatleu ttoe y TerYork from a battery five hundred miles long, announcing to the people Baw us Ne of the state the completion of the most stupendous undertaking of Gowane to the tLhaekier Etirmiee, .w hTichhe G“Soevnerencoa r CChliineft”o nb eomrep ttwieod ibnatror etlhs eo of cweaante art fNroemw m o York in a formal ceremony, generally referred to as the “Marriage h ere of the Waters” between the Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean. w y The Erie proved to be America’s greatest canal. Its effect was a B us soon felt, not only through the state but throughout the east and n wa the Great Lakes region. Settlers flocked westward, forests gave way o G to sawmills and hamlets and these in turn grew into villages. ’s k Citynt. Psprloesnpdeirdo ucsh ationw onf sc iwtieesr es persatnagb luisph eadlo nogn t hteh eli nGe roefa tth eL aEkreies Cananda la. orme w Yuip At a time when we have ceased to wonder at great engineering Neeq feats, which furnish this continent with the means of rapid and d 6 in ndling easy transportation, it is difficult to realize the conditions that na prevailed in America a century ago; we are likely to forget the ah Piers 5 freight mretaaginniitnugd efo or fN thewe uYnodrke rtthake inprgo wudh itcihtl ew oafs tthhee "cEhmiepf irine sStrtuatme.e"n tW ine lose sight of the tremendous difficulties overcome and the strenu- Page 22 Page 7 Page 8 Page 21 depends to some extent upon the number and size of the boats and The time consumed in passing a fleet of boats through a lock propelled by mechanical means. there re no towpaths on the new canals, all carriers must be of canal boats with capacities ranging from 150 to 400 tons. As but the majority of floating equipment still consists of the old type other carriers of various designs have been placed on the waterway, as single units and are devoted to the grain-carrying trade. Several capacity of 1,600 tons on a draught of 10 feet. They are operated is 256 feet in length, 36 feet beam, with 14-foot sides and a cargo A r t which were placed on the waterway in 1921. Each of these vessels i s t i c t o n s . T h e f o u r t h t y p e o f c a r r i e r i s t h e s t e e l m o t o r s h i p , f i v e o f r e n d These have a cargo caacity of 500 tons and a fleet capacity of 2,500 e r i n structed along the box-like lines of the old type of Erie Canal boats. g o f that the boats have the same general dimensions but are con- l i f e of 2,000 tons. The third type is a modification of the second, in o n t fleets of five, being towed by a tug boat and having a cargo capacity h e E capacity of 400 tons on a draught of 10 feet. These are operated in r i e C 100 feet long, 20½ feet beam, with 12-foot sides and a cargo a n a entire fleet a capacity of 2,300 tons. The second type of barge is l a t L by the engines, will accommodate but 350 tons of cargo, giving the o c k the same general dimensions as the consort but, due to space taken p o r t being self-propelled and towing three consorts. The tow-barge has ’ s f l on a draught of 10½ feet. These are operated in fleets of four, one i g h t draught beam, with 12-foot sides and a cargo capacity of 650 tons o f f i feet beam, with 12-foot sides and a cargo capacity of 650 tons on a v e l o carriers placed on the waterway. One is a barge 150 feet long, 20 c k s . Five years of operating the canal has seen four types of general spring of 1918. 1917, and the through route and all branches were opened in the 1916. The Oswego and the eastern part of the Erie was opened in The Champlain Canal was opened to traffic in the spring of certain of the lake courses. land lines. Lighthouses supplement the smaller navigation aids on night illumination. This practice has been extended to some of the lake courses by buoys and other markers, which carry lights for of water. It has been necessary, therefore, to indicate the river and ous efforts exerted by the men who gave to the State her canal policy. When we recognize the many adverse conditions and review the difficulties, we do not wonder that the people of the struggling Republic stood aghast at the vast enterprise and were slow to begin improvements which have proved to be the making of the State. It is well that at that period that were men guiding the interests of the canals who had a strong faith in their ultimate success and who clearly foresaw the benefits follow. To their energy, bravery, perseverance and dauntless resolution is due the era of prosperity and development which followed the building of the canal. The writer of the “New York Memorial,” the chief instrument to mold public sentiment for the early canal, was gifted with prophecy when he said: “It remains for a free state to create a new era in history, and to erect a work more stupendous, more magnificent and more beneficial, than has heretofore been achieved by the human race.” Falls After the building of the original canal the city of New York grew e Littl by leaps and bounds. Before the canal was built Philadelphia had 7 — been the nation’s chief seaport, but New York soon took the lead 1 k and too late Philadelphia made heroic but futile efforts to regain its c o L supremacy. Massachusetts had been another rival, having been about on a par with New York State in exports, but sixteen years after the opening of the canal its exports were only one-third those of New York. In that period, too, the value of real estate in New York increased more rapidly than the population, while personal property was nearly four times its former value, and manufacturing three times as great. There were then five times as many people following commercial pursuits in New York as there were before the completion of the Erie Canal. So marked was the success of the Erie Canal that a veritable frenzy for canal-building spread over the whole country, which manifested itself in New York state in the surveying of hundreds of miles of proposed routes and in the building of several lateral canals, six within the first decade after the Erie was completed and four more within the next four years. In order to keep pace with the growing demands of traffic, the Erie and its main branches Page 20 Page 9 pounds each and are of the so-called “mitre” type. A pair of gates may be opened or closed in about 30 seconds. Their operation, as well as the operation of the vertical lift valves which control the water in the feed culverts, the operation of the power capstans, the buffer beams and all other lock machinery, is controlled by a series of switches collected together in a small controller box located on one of the lock walls. The most wonderful of the locks are the five at Waterford near Troy. They are the world’s greatest series of high lift locks. The total lift is 169 feet, which is twice as much as the total lift from sea-level to the summit of the Panama Canal. Each of these locks cost a quarter of a million dollars. The big lock at Little Falls is remarkable because it has a lift of 40½ feet and this is a greater lift ety than any single lock on the Panama Canal. The siphon lock at NY.Soci Oswego is the first lock of this type to be built in the United States hitehall, YS Canal anTdh ies rteh ea rlea r3g0es6t oraf iilrtso akdin adn idn hthigeh wwoaryl db.ridges crossing the canal. WN al, n - The greater number of these bridges are fixed, or stationary, but in Canctio a few towns and villages local conditions have made it necessary to arge Colle construct highway bridges of the lift type, which are raised to allow ng the Be Gayer bleossa ttsh taon p1a5s½s u fenedte.r them. The clearance under the bridges is not Enlargiurce: Th guOartdh egra tsetsr.u c tTuhreesy wahrei chso lpidre ssetenetl ag asttersi khinugn ga pfproemara nstceee l atroe wtehres So resting on heavy concrete foundations and they are placed at intervals of about ten miles on the land line sections of canals. They are used to close certain portions of the canal for repair work or to prevent damage in case of a break in the canal embankment. A large number of walls, culverts and spillways have been constructed; taintor gates have been extensively used, and over three million yards of concrete have been placed. One hundred million yards of earth and rock have been removed in the construc- tion of the Barge Canal and nearly every known kind of excavating machinery has been used. The deepest cut on the Barge Canal is in the vicinity of Rochester where the bottom is 65 feet below the original surface of the ground. The canal channel is a river often is bordered by a wide expanse Page 10 Page 19