Tales from the Towpath: Erie Canal

Tuesday, May 2, 2023

Stop 28- Lock 51: Lock Down at the County Line

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!

Info about Lock 51

https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=109249

and some more info...

https://www.eriecanal.org/Lock51.html?fbclid=IwAR0WXIvSp2heSsydyaEZva0tnkK8cxUFdepKBrqKqvIGwd5mLCwB1BYtJ2s

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

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

https://www.eriecanal.org/locks.html?fbclid=IwAR0IK7ABInpKT6rZpMvnmLrEYgYiRHVwxw71mshbNT9PxHh5rqvn5JuFWvA#:~:text=In%201884%2C%20it%20was%20decided,feet%20was%20completed%20in%201885

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!

A great video about Lock 51 and her sister Lock 52 in Port Byron:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLvR7zXpq8Y

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:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXlSY_Rcqfw

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

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!

https://nyheritage.org/exhibits/two-hundred-years-erie-canal/enlarging-canal?fbclid=IwAR0IK7ABInpKT6rZpMvnmLrEYgYiRHVwxw71mshbNT9PxHh5rqvn5JuFWvA

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.

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!

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