GPS- 43.066870, -76.495707
We've come to the end of our journey, but we have one last thing to do...
Lock Down at Lock 51!
and some more info...
An aerial view by Bill Hecht
because sometimes you need a birds-eye view,
and not a mule one,
to see the scope of this site!
Lock 51 is one of 5 "Step Down" Locks heading westward on the canal...the last ones we saw in the county were the Lodi Locks which stepped down into the low point created by Onondaga Creek. Here the low point is the Owasco Outlet in Cayuga County...an elevation chart of the locks locally
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Clinton's Ditch did quite the weaving in this section.
The curves made it hard for longer boats to navigate the canal.
And at 4ft deep and 40 feet wide, there wasn't much wiggle room.
Here is this section of Clinton's Ditch on the 1834 map when plans were being made to enlarge the canal to be more efficient and handle more boats and cargo.
Here is a map of the Lock 51 area with a straightened, enlarged canal prism overlaid.
Prism is often a term used as the canal did not have straight sides going down except in locks. The ditch was shaped like an inverted prism.
First the "new" stone locks were put in around 1847. Then to accommodate more traffic in this highly congested area, it was doubled...a map from 1859
The original side is the shorter northern chamber
Then it was doubled on the other side creating an island in the middle...
Note the slope upward
This would have been here for the 1874 map
About the locks and the changes over the years
The locktender's office stood on the center island
But still more traffic needed to pass through this corridor...so the southern chamber was lengthened to twice its original length. Boats could now go up or down two at a time...
A view looking toward the extension!
However, the sheer size of the boats
-coupled with water displacement of heavily loaded boats,
which just barely fit in the lock chamber-
made "locking up" and Lock 51 (and 52) quite tricky
A great video about that:
The tow ropes cut into the rock, rubbing groves in them...
the strain is still visible on the locktender's steps.
Standing at the eastern end of this chamber,
you can see just how much "step down" this lock once took boats
Eventually it was mechanized to make it easier to haul the boats into the lock.
A geared winch was located in this hole...
A reason that it is not safe to walk on the "island" today
is the 20+ft drop through the hole...
Down to the drain chamber below...that's gonna hurt
the water would drain out this tunnel to relieve water pressure of boats trying to get in
Here a better view of the sluice way opening in the fall
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Winter is a great time to view the structure as the stones are easier to see
But time was ticking, boats were getting ever larger,
and the use of motorized boats made the need for a towpath a quaint thing of the past...
so once again, the canal was enlarged and depended and used natural waterways whenever possible. This time to at least 120 ft wide and 12 ft deep!
And while this lock is no longer used by the Modern Barge Canal,
its stones and locktender's house were preserved
by the community for future generations to learn from and enjoy.
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Now that we have "stepped down" from this lock,
our mules grateful we are going west and not east this time.
We know that we have finished our 35 Miles on the Erie Canal
and now head into the 12 1/2 miles across Cayuga County.
That won't take us long as we head toward Buffalo.
And now we say goodbye to our locktenders at Lock 51,
and continue to head west with our mules...
You can learn a lot on 35 miles on the Erie Canal
walking next to your good ol' pal...thanks Sal!
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