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NEW YORK STATE GAZETTEER.
The Erie Canal, connecting the Hudson with Lake Erie, was commenced at Rome, July 4,
1817, and was completed Oct. 26, 1825. As first constructed, it was 363 mi. long, 28.ft. wide at
the bottom, 40 ft. wide at the top, and 4 ft. deep. The locks were 90 ft. long between the gates, and
15 ft. wide. The original cost of the whole was $7,143,789. 86.1
1844, 378
1845, 297
1846, 477
1847,1.466
1848, 457
1849, 215
1850, 152
1851, 213
1852, 271
Some opinion may be formed of the class of boats used from
the numbers built. These were, in 1S57, of scows, 106; decked
scojvs, 23; lake boats, 95; bullheads, 102; and packets,
3. None of the last named were built in 1858; and the day for
traveling upon the canals may be considered as virtually passed,
unless steam canal boats—now being introduced into use—prove
successful competitors in speed with steam upon railroads.
Tlio number of boats upon the canals at different periods has
been—in 1843, 2,136; in 1844, 2,126; in 1847, 2,725; in 1853,
3,401; and in 1859, about 3,500. The following numbers of new
boats have been registered:—
1853, 590 I 1856, 364
1854, 760 1857, 329
1855, 471 I 1858, 255
Structures upon the New York State Canals at the close of 1857.
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|
Erie Canal. |
Champlain
Canal and
Feeder. |
Chenango
Canal. |
Black River
Canal and
Improvement. |
Oneida Lake
Canal. |
Oswego Canal. |
Oneida Rivlr
Improvement. |
Seneca River
Improvement. |
Cayuga <&
Seneca Canal. |
Crooked Lake
Canal. |
Chemung
Canal and
Feeder. |
Genesee Valley
Carial and
Side Cut. |
Total. |
|
Lift Locks"......................... |
76 |
39 |
116 |
110 |
7 |
18 |
2 |
1 |
12 |
.27 |
53 |
113 |
574 |
|
Guard Locks........................ |
4 |
6 |
1 |
1 |
|
5 |
|
1 |
|
1 |
1 |
3 |
23 |
|
Weigh Locks....................... |
5 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
5 |
|
Aqueducts........................... |
35 |
4 |
19 |
5 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
4 |
17 |
84 |
|
Waste Weirs........................ |
49 |
23 |
21 |
12 |
|
5 |
|
|
3 |
6 |
10 |
34 |
163 |
|
Culverts............................. |
243 |
27 |
52 |
18 |
2 |
5 |
|
1 |
|
2 |
2 |
103 |
455 |
|
Guard Gates........................ |
3 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
3 |
|
Road Bridges....................... |
|
52 |
|
36 |
2 |
11 |
1 |
3 |
13 |
|
27 |
103 |
|
|
Farm Bridges...................... |
|
75 |
|
40 |
1 |
1 |
|
|
1 |
|
16 |
102 |
|
|
Tow Bridges........................ |
|
13 |
|
1 |
|
11 |
|
|
27 |
|
. 16 |
9 |
|
|
Total Bridges''...................... |
509 |
140 |
212 |
77 |
3 |
23 |
1 |
3 |
41 |
14 |
59 |
214 |
1,296 |
|
Dams'................................ |
10 |
8 |
12 |
1 |
|
8 |
1 |
|
5 |
|
1 |
5 |
51 |
|
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“ Double locks, side by side, are counted as one. The number
upon the. Erie Canal, when completed, will be two less, by dis¬
pensing with those now at Monte/.uma.' •
4 Farm bridges are gradually lessening in number, as the
claims of individuals are from time to time commuted, or the
damages appraised from failure to rebuild them. The principal
increase of bridges is in cities and villages, from the opening of
new streets; and in these localities permanent iron bridges are
now generally built upon the principal thoroughfares.
« Of the 10 dams in the first column, 8 are feeder dams. |
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chimerical. The next year Mr. De Witt, in a conversation with
James Geddes, then a land surveyor of Onondaga county, stated
the-plan of Mr. Morris as one of the impracticable schemes
whichjiad been advanced. Mr. Geddes, however, looked at the
matter in a different light, and, after some little reflection, he
concluded that the plan, with some modifications, was by fax
the best that had 3'et been suggested. He counseled with Jesse
Ilawley upon the subject; and the latter, convinced of the feasi¬
bility of the project, wrote a scries of papers which were pub¬
lished in the Genesee Messenger from Oct. 1807, to March, 1808.
These essays were signed “Hercules,” and were the first ever
printed in favor of the Erie Canal. In 1808, Joshua Forman,
an intimate associate of Mr. Geddes. then a member of the As¬
sembly, introduced a resolution for the survey of a canal route,
to the end that Congress might be led to grant moneys for the
construction of a canal. The sum of $600 was granted for
purveys under the direction of the Surveyor-General. James
Geddes was intrusted with this service, and was directed to level
down from Oneida Lake to the mouth of Salmon Creek, to ascer¬
tain whether a canal could be opened from Oswego Falls to Lake
Ontario,and to survey thp best route for a canal around Niagara'
Falls. He was also directed to survey a route eastward from
Lake Erie to Genesee River, and thence to the waters flowing
east into Seneca Lake. He finished this work, and made a
report showing the practicability of the last named route and
its great superiority oyer the others which had been proposed.
This report at once excited general attention, and secured the
influence of De Witt Clinton, then a member of the Senate, and
many other prominent men. In 1810, commissioners, at the
head of whom w*as De Witt Clinton, were appointed to explore
a canal route through the center of the State. On the 8th of
April, 1811, an act was passed to provide for the improvement
of the internal navigation of the State, and efforts we:e made to
obtain aid from the General Government, but without success.
The report of the commissioners stated the importance of this
measure with such force and eloquence that a law' n as passed
the next year continuing the commissioners, and authorizing
them to borrowand deposit money, and take cessions of land, for
the proposed canal; but the war suspended active operations.
The project, however, continued to be discussed, and an act was
passed on the 17th of April, 1816, providing for a definite survey.
The canal was begun at Rome, July 4, 1817, and on the 22d of
October, 1819, the first boat passed from Utica to Rome.
The completion of the canal was celebrated by extraordinary |
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Plans for improving the navigation of the Mohawk were
proposeil in 1725, but nothing was done to this end til I1 March
30,1792, when the “Western Inland Navigation Company” was
incorporated, with powers to improve the channel and build
canals and locks to Lake Ontario and Seneca Lake. The cost to
Oneida Lake was estimated at £39,500. This work consisted
mainly of the following:—
1st. A canal at Little Falls, 4,752 feet long, of which 2.550 feet
were through solid rock. Upon it were 5 locks, with a total
rise of 411 feet. 2d. A canal 1£ miles long, with a lock, at Wolf
Rift, German Flats. 3d. A canal, If miles long, at home, con¬
necting the Mohawk with Wood Creek; and, 4th. four locks upon
Wood Creek, with a total depth of 25 feet. The work was begun
at Little Falls, in 1793, but the want of funds delayed the work
until 1794, when a subscription of 200 shares was obtained from
the State. Boats first passed the canal and locks at this place
Nov. 17, 1795, and on that day and the next 8 large and 102
small boats were passed, at a toll of £80 10s, exclusive of 9 that
piassed free the first day. The chambers of the locks were 74
by 12 feet, and allowed boats of 32 tons to pass; but other im¬
pediments limited boats to a burden of 10 or 11 tons. Light
boats could go from Fchenectady to Fort Stanwix and back in 9
days; but the larger boats required 14 days to make the trip. In
1793, Wood Creek was cleared out, and 13 isthmuses were cut
across, shortening the channel 7 miles. In 1796, boats passed
through to Oneida Lake; and the work, in 1797, had cost
$400,000, of which the State paid $92,000. The great cost re¬
quired high tolls; aud in 1812 but 300 boats passed, with 1,500
tons, at Little Falls. The company gave up its rights west of
Oneida Lake in 1808, and sold out to the State, in 1820, for
$152,718.52.—Report of Weston, the Engineer, 1796; Spafford's
Gazetteer, 1813; Hist. If. II Canals, II. 40.
It is entirely uncertain who originated the first idea of con¬
structing a chain of water communication through the State.
All of the early efforts were directed to effecting a passage
through the Mohawk, Wood Creek. Oneida Lake, and Oswego
River to Lake Ontario. The Western connection was sought
by locking around Niagara Falls. In 1800. Gcuverneur Morris
first suggested the idea of a direct canal from Lake Erie to the
Hudson, through the center of the 8tate. His plan was to tap
Lake Erie, and have a continuous slope from the lake to the
high land that borders upon the Hudson, and a series of locks
thence to the river. In 1803 ho stated the on! line of his plan to
the Surveyor-General, Simeon De Witt, who looked upon it as
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