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 22- Halfway Points: Of 363, 350, and 339

 GPS- 43.054804, -76.309833

While the de-facto halfway point in the canal was Syracuse due to it being the major city between Albany and Buffalo, the true halfway point of the canal is just to the west of the city

Just past Camillus Landing,...

 ....you will come upon a split path and road.

After the canal days, the Towpath was converted into a road for the 

Camillus Sportsman Club.

And not far down the path you'll come to a sign:

And across the way, in case you missed it,...

...is the halfway point on the Enlarged Erie.

This stretch is the improved, straightened and widened channel, 

70ft wide and 7ft deep.

You are halfway from Albany and halfway to Buffalo 

This is due to the specs of the Enlarged Canal

But where was the halfway of the original Clinton's Ditch?

For that you will come to this sign in Memphis, NY!

But "Halfway" is a movable term depending on which canal you are talking about and where that point is marked. The original halfway point was the Village of Canton...Later the Village of Memphis just a few miles west

And the halfway point of Clinton's Ditch actually lies about just east of here.

The first incarnation of the Erie Canal, now lovingly, but once slanderously called Clinton's Ditch or Folly was a much longer route 363 miles winding its way the easiest and cheapest way to dig and fill a ditch, often hugging hillsides and going around curves. It worked for a time but at 4ft deep and 40ft wide its winding ways became impractical for larger vessels.

The reality is that the middle was just a mile or so east of Memphis, 

but past the crossroads of Newport. 

But once you made it to Memphis, 

you knew you were halfway in your cross-state journey

In its day, Canton, whose name was later changed to Memphis, 

was a bustling village and stop along the canal

 

map c.1859

Bird's eye view from the hills south of Memphis

The Enlarged Erie flowing past the Hotel. 

The building, although much altered, is extant today.

Looking south from just over the railroad tracks.

But where is the halfway point today?

When the canal eventually switched in the 1918, the Modern Barge Canal used today was completed and replaced the "old" Erie Canal. 

It is now about 339 miles long just and uses natural waterways whenever possible. 

Why the change? 

Two reasons: aging infrastructure and the widespread use of mechanical engines made using natural waterways plausible. And so the new "Halfway" point changed once again as the route changed and now lies about a mile east of Baldwinsville Community Park.

So lined up on an old map from 1874,

and on a modern map...

But while we have passed the middle of the canal and we are one mule step closer to Buffalo, the other piece of good news is we are more than 2/3 though our journey across the county!

 So after staying overnight in a nearby hotel

(a proper bath does wonders for the spirits...

and food you don't have to cook on a hot summer day),

we are reminded of faster mode of transport nearby....

That will one day make this channel of water next to the tracks obsolete...

because people and goods move faster by train...

...And still do around here!

But we continue on the next day with our imaginary team of mules, well-fed and rested, and our boat captain and family, well-fed and rested, and travel on to our next stop...

Stop 21- Sim's Store: Stores and Markets

GPS- 43.052605, -76.303531

All these goods being transported along the canal would have been useless if there was no people on the other end who wanted them.

That's not a business model that last very long.

Without markets and stores to trade goods and services, 

the canal would have been nothing more that an expensive water feature

Here in Camillus a the Liz and Dave Beebe Erie Canal Park,

you can visit Sim's Store.

This building is a replica built for the park. 

The original store, Dill's Store stood across Devoe Rd 

on the path of the original Clinton's Ditch, 

which is still barely visible in the landscape on the trail 

behind the building 

This is a picture the original building along the canal

Here it is depicted in a painting

The Dill property on the 1859 map

The original Dill Homestead was extant until it burned in the 1960s

In this view from the 50s, the Dill House can be seen on the bottom edge 

by the dry section of the canal.

Its foundation walls are still visible in the overgrowth, 

on the trail on the western side of Devoe Rd

(pics from the Canal Park)

What made this place so special? Canal Stores were the link between farmers and tradesmen and getting their goods to market. Only so much product could be purchased locally, but markets in the big cities could get higher prices for goods. They also could add variety to life in area where basics abounded...but what fun luxuries like lace, cloth, and fine goods couldn't be produced locally....plus they could provide the local gossip if you stayed around for a game of checkers long enough 😎...

Camillus really became part mill town, part agriculture in its economy due to the canal, turnpikes, and later the railroad

Celebrating being along the old Erie Canal for 200 years...

this section opened up before the 1825 completion date!

Finally, farmers had an easy way to get their goods to market.

Also Nine Mile Creek (which is really 21.75 miles long), the one we just passed over to the east, provided power to a mill race, kept water levels up on the Jordan Level with the Camillus Feeder, and provided power for more mills both upstream and down from Camillus.

These stones were once part of a gate that controlled water flowing into the feeder

Located originally in the village, they were moved and put on display here.

So why does this part of the old Erie Canal still have water flowing in it?

Why didn't it suffer the same fate as Gere's Lock not far away?

(pic by Cori Wilson)

The answer is Liz and Dave Beebe.

They learned that Solvay Process intended to continue 

dumping waste into the canal bed in this area.

They bought the land on their own

and stopped Solvay Process in its tracks 

from dumping west of Warner's Rd.

Liz and Dave Beebe bought this property and saved it from being a dump for Solvay Process. They painstakingly and lovingly restored it with the help of many volunteers to make it the great place it is today.

https://eaglenewsonline.com/new/2012/03/02/camillus-erie-canal-park-celebrate-40th-birthday/?fbclid=IwAR0f0xYmwHm22yQX3Qu0ZDMwXB6f7H6_NBbY8rtQEkD6E87askOiJTee7vs

And at just over 50 years, the efforts of Liz and Dave Beebe and their army of volunteers 

have made this a stellar stop to learn about the Erie Canal

More about it here
https://eriecanalcamillus.org/

We stopped for a spell here at the Dill's Landing to unload some goods from Syracuse and load some goods up destined for Rochester. We have caught up on the recent news from newspapers and the Dills. We have resupplied our vessel with extra provisions...

and so we head off to our next stop...

(PS- This widewaters area, now a pond, was in front of the original store on Clinton's Ditch)