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RiverSpark:
Crossroads of the Historic Canals
By Robert Breuer
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In the great canal building era of the early nineteenth century the Erie Canal
from the west and the Champlain Canal from the north were connected to the
Hudson River here in the Hudson Mohawk Heritage Area. Canals reduced
transportation costs by a factor of ten and brought propserity to both upstate
and downstate New York. Commerce to and from the developing west funneled
through this area and soon made the communities of RiverSpark
- Waterford, Cohoes, Colonie, Green Island, Watervliet and Troy into thriving
places.
Today remains of the early canals still exist in the RiverSpark area,
impressive reminders of the greatest engineering feat of its time. Equally
impressive and historic is the successor to those canals, built in the early
part of the twentieth century to carry larger vessels and cargoes. Recreational
traffic has now largely replaced commerce along the waterways of RiverSpark
but it presents an equally absorbing sight to shoreside viewers. And the
structures and sites, of both the original canals and their successor, are
fascinating locations to visit. Some of these are described below:
Completed in 1825, the original Erie Canal was four feet deep and forty feet
wide. Canal boats were pulled by horses and mules walking on a towpath along
the canal, and lifted from the Hudson to the higher levels of the Mohawk in a
series of locks. As commerce increased, canal locks were enlarged several times
and relocated, in some cases, to handle larger canal boats. Remains of locks of
the 1837-1842 rerouted Erie Canal can be seen in Cohoes' Erie Canal Park along
a granite stone path north and south of Vliet St. just east of the Summit St. -
Harmony St. intersection (1);
the granite path along the abandoned canal extends 1/4 mile south from that
intersection to the end of Standish Pl. where there are the remains of another
lock, overgrown with weeds (2).
The foundations of the Weighlock Building, where canal boats were weighed and a
toll collected based on the cargo weight, can be seen at Colonie's Weighlock
Park, on Rte. 32 just north of Watervliet
(3)
.
The Champlain Canal parted from the Erie Canal at the "Juncta" in Cohoes and
proceeded along what is now Route NY787; the remains of a lock can be seen on
the west side of NY787, just north of Dyke Av.
(4). The Champlain Canal entered the Mohawk above the dam just
east of Route 32 (5).
It proceeded north from the Mohawk through what is now Waterford Canal Park
(6); from the trail along the old towpath one of the old locks
can be seen. "Sidecuts" were once located in Watervliet and Waterford to
provide access to from the canals to Lansingburgh and Troy across the Hudson;
the locks of the Waterford sidecut can be seen from Lock 2 Park
(7)
. The old Champlain Canal proceeded north through Waterford and is now used as
surge basin for Lock 2 of the new Erie Canal.
As the old canals grew increasingly inadequate, New York State decided in 1903
to create what came to be known as the Barge Canal. While the old canals were
built into the sides of river valleys where boats could be pulled along slack
water, the new canal was located in the rivers themselves. Large dams were
placed across the Hudson and Mohawk Rivers and massive locks were built to life
and lower large barges pulled and pushed by tugboats. A federal dam and lock
was constructed in 1916 in the Hudson and can be seen from Lansingburgh
(8). Farther north the remains of the Matton Shipyard can be
seen on Van Schaick Island, Cohoes
(9)
. Wooden canal boats and later steel tugboats were built here; the site is now
owned by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic
Preservation.
The new Erie Canal abandoned the locks through Cohoes and connected the Hudson
to the Mohawk by the highest set of lift locks in the world - the "Waterford
Flight." This set of 5 locks lifts vessels 169 feet. Cohoes Falls, the great
falls of the Mohawk which these locks were created to overcome, can be seen
from the School Street overlook in Cohoes
(10)
.
The canal park at Lock 2 (7)
contains several historic markers. During the canal season (May through
November) the great gates can often be seen opening and closing, and the locks
filling or emptying, as boats are raised or lowered.
Sources:
-
The Erie Canal from Albany to Waterford, The Canal Society of New
York, 1996
-
The Story of the New York State Canals, Roy G. Finch, 1925
-
The Hudson Mohawk Urban Cultural Park, map, Hudson Mohawk Industrial
Gateway, 1979
-
The Waterford Flight, The Waterford Historical Museum and Cultural
Center, Inc., 1965
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