Stop 27: Jordan Canal Park and Garden: Park It!

GPS- 43.065765, -76.473371

So what do you do when the state closes your portion of the Erie Canal? 

Some parts are left to ruin as they are located outside the village center, some are paved over and made into roads, and some are filled in with waste and debris. 

But in Jordan, the canal went through the village center...and something more clever had to be done with it! 

A pic from after the canal was abandoned for the Modern Barge Canal to the north.

But lets go back, for in understanding history, does the present make much sense. 

When Clinton's Ditch was widened and deepened to 70ftx7ft, 

the Enlarged Erie required 3x the water than the original. 

More feeders were added including Carpenter's Brook 

and a larger feeder from Skaneateles Creek...

Here behind this blocked in arch is the feeder 

that provided the Jordan Level with more water.

Here you can see the feeder on the right between the two buildings

There is still a "Benchmark" marker located behind what is now a laundromat

Upstream, all that remain of the guard gate for this feeder 

are these beautiful cut stone abutments.

Once a gate system allowed water to flow down, a now it is a buried path, to the canal

This section was always hard to keep sufficient water levels in, so it made sense to stop and let the Jordan Level Plateau drain back once it was no longer needed. The bridges were removed over the ditch, and Main St and Hamilton were made at-grade crossings...for the first time in since Clinton's Ditch first came through town. Here is a pic of the bridge first being put across the canal on Main St

A view of the bridge heading north on Main St

And after crossing the bridge heading south

And here is a pic of it being removed after the canal was abandoned

But what do you do with the rest? 

Enter the WPA...

in the 1930s, the WPA turned a wasteland left by the state 

and turned it into a beautiful park, 

preserving Jordan's canal structures 

so that one day, they would be appreciated for what they are!

 

While the plantings have changed over the years, 

its beauty helps us connect with the past...

down the stairs, with stones from the now unused canal...

...You can appreciate just how much fill 

was necessary to make Main St in Jordan passible again!

It also makes a great sledding hill away from the path of cars!

And provides beauty in Spring and Summer

And views in the fall...

Looking east on Main St today

And looking west on Main St, over 100 years ago, 

you would see

But even this area has a story to tell today...

it is one of the few places Clinton's Ditch 

and all of the Enlargements fell in the same place...

the canal bed just got wider and deeper!

And where canal traffic once moored

Concerts can be heard...

And veterans remembered

The south wall (the pedestrian side) is a cut stone wall 

revetment holding the hill back and the north side was a rubble wall past the bridge

The coursed, cut stone on the south wall holding back the hill

The north side, the Towpath side, had a rubble wall now covered by grass...

but it is under there!

Looking east from Hamilton with the Canal then...

Looking east from Hamilton St today

But we can't tarry long here on our Towpath Trip across Onondaga County,

which is almost done. 

And in case you are wondering, at the end of the Erie Canal's life, 

some motorized boats did travel the canal...a sign of changing times.

A new canal could be needed for a newer kind of boat.

Just like the Old Erie Canal, our time is almost up...

And so, we continue on to our last stop...

about a mile west of here...