Stop 20- Camillus Aqueduct: The Power of Dream

GPS- 43.059145, -76.285402

The Camillus Aqueduct: The Power of A Dream 

The Camillus Aqueduct, aka the Nine Mile Creek Aqueduct, 

carries the Erie Canal over Nine Mile Creek

Why is this sign in the past tense, and there is water there now?

Weren't canal structures left to basically decay in situ?

How did the wooden trough survive this long?

While the stone work is original, the wooden trough is a restoration.

Well, this aqueduct is the only restored original aqueduct 

on the old Erie Canal

due to 

one couple's dream, determination, and hard work.

But first, this wasn't the first aqueduct here.

 

This is a map showing Clinton's Ditch.

The aqueduct crossed Nine Mile Creek about 100 ft east of here

 

The original canal, 4 ft deep is still imbedded 

in the landscape

An illustration showing what the original aqueduct looked like. 

It was much simpler in design.

The specs from the Erie Canal Mapping Project

All that remains of this aqueduct is the tumbled rocks into Nine Mile Creek

And it is a protected site.

A fun fact: Nine Mile Creek is actually almost 22 mile long...

our forefathers had quirky naming practices 😎

Where the rapids are in this picture is the place

where the original aqueduct crossed 

Nine Mile Creek.

When the canal was enlarged starting in the late 1830's,

the volume of the water tripled 

from 160 sq ft/ per linear foot to 490 sq ft/ linear foot.

Crossing the creek wasn't an easy task for the canal builders. 

This body of water had too high a volume for an "easy" culvert...

but canal engineers and builders had to make it connect.

The canal was quite windy through here and surveyors came through in 1834 to map out existing areas so that improvements could be made. 

Here is the 1820 Aqueduct on the 1834 map.

As canal boats got larger, getting around all those curves could prove to be difficult

And so,  the canal was straightened and widened and 

the 1844 Aqueduct was built over a straighter route

The specs of the 1844 aqueduct

And while there were gentle curves is its path, 

nothing as winding as the original

A picture of it in the late 1800s...

packet boats would take people and goods across it daily. 

On the left you see the Towpath, which was on the north side of the canal. 

The south side was for pedestrians and other traffic.

As the canal era wound down, and boats were more likely to be self-propelled, 

the ban on pedestrians and carriages on the towpath was lifted

This view was taken from what is now the Thompson Farm.

The family had owned it since canal days.

Then it fell into disrepair after the Erie Canal was replaced with the Modern Barge Canal. The wooden troughs that carried the water over the canal need yearly maintenance and occasional replacement. With the Barge Canal up and running there was no need to maintain something that wasn't being used. And so the boards were removed and it was left to time...for a time... (pic from Tug44)

But it was built so well that the stones held together even in neglect. Its stones weren't "salvaged" for other projects and stood like sentinels across Nine Mile Creek for nearly 90 years! (photo from unknown source).

But then enter Dave and Liz Beebe who investigated, researched, and figured out that restoring it WAS possible...and made it happen by 2010

More about the restoration

Today this is the only restored aqueduct on the old Erie Canal. Its waters once again connect land on the east and west sides of Nine Mile Creek

Notice the curved courses of limestone (from Split Rock) that were cut, dressed and fitted into something not only functional, but beautiful

More about the restoration work
http://www.eriecanalcamillus.com/aqueduct.htm?fbclid=IwAR21CJFUSfO6753bdTqP9Vb25efRgD1T-og4bP5e8Dd0X-H3naXWvbeUV74

https://www.eriecanal.org/9MileCreek.html?fbclid=IwAR1VVhD4sqjGQnYAxOEEj9B1k1-2dXC9nfOOvoLxc5E73FdC11OA1LkjqB4

https://eriecanalway.org/find-resources/case-studies/nine-mile-aqueduct?fbclid=IwAR1dQm2trsR7uLHkC-jHv62ieFLP43ymm92nhhDJMuEg26lOQrgqkIqVBKw

http://www.tug44.org/canal.history/nine-mile-creek-aqueduct/?fbclid=IwAR2qhCKywkxS6U7_xBKSuKVItobFqd3zrfPClkPWRRa2V7ctrUyr98rgfNo

And now you can take a tour boat across it

And now you can take a boat tour across it!

http://www.eriecanalcamillus.com/boat.htm?fbclid=IwAR0Bk24fCn_mLlyWg0LrOObMLFRfAO3JAT1oHs2gSy2ByJH2fVvE_80o6l8

Or paddle on it or beneath it...

two members of the Onondaga Creek Rats touring Nine Mile Creek

And now celebrating 50 years of hard work restoring this section of the canal, 

Liz and Dave Beebe 

deserve all the thanks of a grateful community...

pics by Cori Wilson

Even today, it requires an army of volunteers to keep this section 

of the canal the beauty it is today...nature always wants to reclaim its own. 

With the preservation movement these two started, 

their vision is poised to carry on for the next generations 

to enjoy and learn about and learn from.

And so as we cross this body of water, we know that we are about two-thirds of the way across the county in our packet boat. But we mustn't dilly-dally here. 

And so we float on to our next stop...

Stop 15- Amos Mills: The Mill and the Disaster

GPS- 43.050723, -76.158248

This unassuming brick building that once stood on the banks of the Erie Canal

has a story that goes back to before the founding of Syracuse...

before Syracuse was barely a crossroads to the catalyst to update the Erie Canal and its infrastructure that would lead to the Erie Canal through Syracuse being abandoned through Syracuse for the Modern Barge Canal we use today.

So let's step back in time...a time where water power would be necessary 

to help grow a community...

On the 1810 James Geddes map, you can see mills already along the creek

On this 1834 map, several mills had been along Onondaga Creek, harnessing the power of  the creek to mill grain, wood, and anything else that needed the power of water to move.

Enter Syracuse Mills, then Empire Mills, then still later Amos Mills

The original owners of the mill not only saw the waterpower potential to grind grain, but the ready made market of both producers (local farmers) and consumers (locals, canalers, and breweries)
It's next store neighbor, Greenway was a ready-made client

...As was Bartels!

When Clinton's Ditch was enlarged to accommodate larger boats, 

a new limestone aqueduct was replaced the original sandstone one in 1838.

Years went by, but as time passed, the canal infrastructure aged along with it.

The mill was so successful under Amos in the late 1800s, he built a fancy new office!

The Canal Corporation knew the old canal was aging. 

Even with regular maintenance each fall winter and spring, it really needed to be rethought. 

Boats were getting too big to fit into locks. Things were breaking or in danger of breaching.

The railroads were dominating the transportation of goods. 

But people wanted to hold onto the past...
But on July 30, 1907, a section of one of the arches in the aqueduct gave way. Twice the amount of water that is is in the Westcott Reservoir today, drained from the canal in a matter of a couple of hours. It was reported that the force made the water appear to flow upstream in Onondaga Creek. The water drained from Lock 48 in Lock Square to Gere's Lock to the first lock on the Oswego Canal...it was a huge disaster!

It was a disaster of unprecedented proportions! 

Part of the north facing wall of Amos Mills collapsed. 

Canal boats were destroyed!

Water flowing from the mill races still poured into the hole from 
Onondaga Creek

It was a HUGE mess!

Slowly the canal bed had to be cleared of debris, 

broken boats were burned to get them out of the way, 

and then the repair could begin!

Boats were backed up to the east and to the west and to the north 

of Syracuse for SIX WEEKS waiting for the repair to be completed. 

It couldn't have happened at a worse conjunction.

Some more info:
https://reflections.eriecanalmuseum.org/towns-people-city-dwellers/the-great-canal-break-of-1907/?fbclid=IwAR1pMosLind3u_FvMmIg53yof2dYlhOohZLbfnvrSqoRJUERzkORU01EaL8

And that repair remained in place for over 100 years. This bridge graduated from carrying boats to carrying cars on the "new' Erie BLVD. Over time, this stone structure needed repairs once more by 2014 so it could continue to carry loads across the creek.

https://www.syracuse.com/kirst/2014/10/in_syracuse_the_most_beautiful_erie_canal_bridge_no_one_ever_sees.html?fbclid=IwAR1tqMLgbSNtbzk7gFPEyFDvVa0MdthYo_0xjinNICXaoy6knmo4g8wFhuw

Eventually the aqueduct was patched with concrete and metal patch and reopened in September, leaving only about one month for canal captains to complete their work 

until the canaling season closed for the winter.

If you look closely, you can see where Amos Mills' brick was repaired as well. 

Over 100 years later, it still looks good

The walls were trussed for stability.

And still has a place to tie up your boat!

But after this disaster, and with mechanized boats being commonplace, 

engineers and surveyors began to look seriously into utilizing and connecting natural waterways to transport goods across the state.

And so with this disaster, the beginning of the end of the Erie Canal was set in motion.
In less than 10 years, the Modern Barge Canal would replace this one,

 and the Erie Canal would be buried under the streets of Syracuse.

But for now, we continue on the Towpath to our next stop...