A few dates to note and set aside for 2013.
Canal Splash Weekend
The Canal Splash weekend is August 9-11. We will be holding our walk this year on Saturday, the 10th. The format will be much the same as last years, with the walk taking place all in the new Montezuma Heritage Park. Last year, it took us three hours, so a start at 9am seems reasonable. More to come, but we have a complete post already on this site that will tell you all about it.
We do have other dates to note.
Canal Clean Sweep- April 20th. It always rains on our clean sweep, but let's hope for sun this year.
Volunteering- We will be holding work dates in the Heritage Park throughout the year.
Sat June 8th
Sat September 28th
Sat October 5th
The last two dates are planned to get things set for the first annual Montezuma 5K run/walk.
Sunday, February 10, 2013
Sunday, August 5, 2012
Final Plans for August 11 Canal Splash
My wife Mary, Lizzie the canal dog and I took a walk through Montezuma making final plans today. I hope next week is a bit cooler than today, but anyhow, we suffered through the heat and humidity for your benefit.
As I wrote before, we will start at the "Big Basin", which is now the park next to the Town Offices. There we will walk west toward the aqueduct and river. If you want, you can drive and meet us at certain areas, however there is a 1.5 mile walk you can't escape if you want to see most of the sites. I would guess the entire walk is about 2 miles, more of less. I have planned out a route that doesn't double back too much, and a lot is new this year! Some of the trail is bumpy and none of it is paved.
Once we learn about the basin, we will walk through the "downtown". We will see what use to be, and then walk over to the new Heritage Park trailhead, which happens to be located at the junction of the Cayuga Seneca and Erie.
We will then take a short cut (if we don't get a lot
of rain this week) over to the new trail that leads to Cayuga Seneca Lock 11. Lock 11 is the best preserved lock of the CS canal and well worth seeing. This year for the first time, we will be able to see it from the west side, as it was cleared this spring.
Along the trail, we can see the remains of the first Erie Canal. We can also see a nice wetlands area that is part of the Heritage Park.We will see the site of Meil's Drydock as we walk around it, another first this year.
As I wrote before, we will start at the "Big Basin", which is now the park next to the Town Offices. There we will walk west toward the aqueduct and river. If you want, you can drive and meet us at certain areas, however there is a 1.5 mile walk you can't escape if you want to see most of the sites. I would guess the entire walk is about 2 miles, more of less. I have planned out a route that doesn't double back too much, and a lot is new this year! Some of the trail is bumpy and none of it is paved.
Once we learn about the basin, we will walk through the "downtown". We will see what use to be, and then walk over to the new Heritage Park trailhead, which happens to be located at the junction of the Cayuga Seneca and Erie.
Then it is onto the Montezuma Aqueduct.
As we walk to the aqueduct, we will stop at the site of Clinton's Ditch Lock 62 and spend a little time looking it over and talking about it. Over the past few years, the nice folks at Montezuma have spent a lot of time clearing this site and it looks great right now.
Then we will walk down to the Seneca River and south to the aqueduct. The dry year has the river very low, and you can walk all around many of the piers. I guess that the river is at least 6 feet under the historic level of the river in 1850, and about 2 feet lower than a normal year these days. Mary would be under water in Erie Canal times. We will talk about why that is and many other things about the river and the canal, mans use of the swamps, cement plants, paper mills and so much more.
Here, if the weather cooperates, the Montezuma people will meet us with water, hot dogs and such items for a small donation. Hey, the walk is free!
From here, we walk back the trail to the start.
There is a lot of info in the early posts of this blog. Just click on the labels to help find the posts. We also tie to a series of canal splash handouts that we wrote for the "Following the Flow" tour we held the first year. So take a look. And come see!
Of, if you can't come August 11, and since we are so proud of what we have, we do try to accommodate private tours. See you there.
Sunday, July 29, 2012
More Details About the 11th
At our Heritage Park meeting, we discussed the final arrangements of the walk. We will meet at the Town Park, which is to the east of Rt 90 and next to the Town and Justice Offices. This is the location of the large basin and a fitting place to start. We start at 9am.
The Montezuma Historical Society will be holding a little picnic at the Aqueduct if the weather is good. They will have hot dogs, chips, water and soda available. They will ask for a donation, but it is a great place to sit, eat and watch the river flow by.
The Montezuma Historical Society will be holding a little picnic at the Aqueduct if the weather is good. They will have hot dogs, chips, water and soda available. They will ask for a donation, but it is a great place to sit, eat and watch the river flow by.
Saturday, June 30, 2012
Following the Flow- 2012
In years gone by, we have run a tour of canal sites in Cayuga County titled "Following The Flow", where we began our day at Lock 51 near Jordan and worked our way downhill until we reached Montezuma. Although this makes the most sense to a canal geek like me, it left us taking a two hour walking tour in the afternoon. So this year, we are going to change things up and start the day in Montezuma.
I have created a flyer that can be downloaded with tour information, although you will need to print it our and fold it to have it make any sense. So here is the basic info.
We will start the day at 9am for a two hour walking tour that will cover many of the great sites in and around the Hamlet of Montezuma and in the new Heritage Park.
We always start these tours in the "downtown" of Montezuma to see what use to be and then work our way toward the Seneca River. This year will will be adding a loop to see the newly cleared Lock 11 on the Cayuga Seneca Canal, bits of the Clinton's Ditch and Meil's Drydock.
As we walk along, you will learn about the first Erie, known as Clinton's Ditch, the Enlarged Canal, the Cayuga Seneca Canal and the current Barge Canal. I also try to get in some history about mans use of the Montezuma Swamps as a commercial resource. Montezuma is full of history. The Montezuma Historical Society will also have a walking tour guide book for sale for a very reasonable price.
Much of what we will do is covered in prior years posts, so if you go back in this blog, you will find a lot of information about the tour. You will also find more links to data sheets that you can print out. Click on the link and then look over the submissions by Canal Splash to find all the data sheets.
If this isn't enough for you, I will be available to guide you to Port Byron and Weedsport. We will work our way back up hill to Lock 51, stopping at canal sites along the way. More information will be available on the day of the tour, but plan for another couple hours if you want to do this.
I have created a flyer that can be downloaded with tour information, although you will need to print it our and fold it to have it make any sense. So here is the basic info.
We will start the day at 9am for a two hour walking tour that will cover many of the great sites in and around the Hamlet of Montezuma and in the new Heritage Park.We always start these tours in the "downtown" of Montezuma to see what use to be and then work our way toward the Seneca River. This year will will be adding a loop to see the newly cleared Lock 11 on the Cayuga Seneca Canal, bits of the Clinton's Ditch and Meil's Drydock.
As we walk along, you will learn about the first Erie, known as Clinton's Ditch, the Enlarged Canal, the Cayuga Seneca Canal and the current Barge Canal. I also try to get in some history about mans use of the Montezuma Swamps as a commercial resource. Montezuma is full of history. The Montezuma Historical Society will also have a walking tour guide book for sale for a very reasonable price.
Much of what we will do is covered in prior years posts, so if you go back in this blog, you will find a lot of information about the tour. You will also find more links to data sheets that you can print out. Click on the link and then look over the submissions by Canal Splash to find all the data sheets.
If this isn't enough for you, I will be available to guide you to Port Byron and Weedsport. We will work our way back up hill to Lock 51, stopping at canal sites along the way. More information will be available on the day of the tour, but plan for another couple hours if you want to do this.
Sunday, June 3, 2012
Canal Splash Weekend
Plans are being made for this year's Canal Splash Weekend which falls on August 11th. We will be offering a long guided tour of Montezuma and short tour of Port Byron. Old Brutus will have their museum open also. Canal Splash events take place all over the State, so keep your eyes open for event listings.
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Cranebrook Aqueduct
Sometimes, you need to take a canal photo where you can find it. This newspaper photo, taken from a April 1930 issue of the Port Byron Chronicle, shows the old Rt 31 highway bridge (before it was Rt 31), and behind it, we can see part of the Cranebrook Aqueduct. This is totally gone now, replaced by the improved Rt 31 and the Thruway. I have never seen a photo of this aqueduct before, so even this faded copy of a copy can provide us with a sense of what was once there to carry the canal over the creek.
Saturday, March 17, 2012
The Search for Clinton's Ditch Goes On.
As we have discussed before, Cayuga County has the remains of both the Clinton's Ditch and the Enlarged Canal. In most cases, as you drive along Rt 31 across the county, you are closely following both the first and second versions of the Erie Canal. But in the area between Montezuma and Port Byron, the canal(s) and the highway take different paths. For three miles west of Port Byron, the highway takes a dramatically different route, climbing up into the small hills south of the canal route. Why this happens is a bit of a mystery. Maybe it was to avoid the mucklands? Maybe this exploration can help me figure this out.
If you wish to see the canal, especially the enlarged canal, you can head over to the north side of the Thruway and travel down Maiden Lane Road and then onto Towpath Road for a bit (a dead end road). But the Thruway keeps you from looking for any early canal remains. Interestingly, if you are traveling along the Thruway (hopefully not driving) you can see a lot of early canal route, but it passes by too fast to make much sense of it all. So this area has always been of interest to me.
I looked on the Cayuga County GIS website and on Google Earth to see what might remain. The old fast trolley line was built along this route, covering over the first canal. But I did see spots that looked hopeful. With the permission of the land-owner; my wife, Lizzy the canal dog, and I took a walk on a very warm late winters day. I am happy we did, the leaves are already budding out and soon much of what I saw will be covered over for another summer.
Recall that the first canal is a contour canal, so we need to follow the lay of the land. This is very important, especially in this area, as the canal was built into the hillside. (Perhaps to skirt the muck-lands to the north?)
(Above) Here we are on the old trolley route, looking at a pond of sorts that I saw on Google Earth and Bing Maps 3-D. At this point, I am looking east toward Port Byron. My thought at this point is that the first canal is on the other side of this water. The water was likely impounded by the building of the trolley line. The Thruway is immediately to my left.
(Above) Here it is, just where I thought it might be. Filled with water, not all filled with trees and brush, at least for a very short length. The 1834 map below shows this section. The big loop is where the water is, and the photo is taken about where the canal cuts through thumb of land on the left side of the map. This section is almost pointed north. What is hard to see through the brush and trees is the lay of the land and how the canal was cut into the hillside.
If you read my book (go over to the Cayuga County Canals website and get it free), you might recall that the canal in this area was abandoned as soon as the enlarged canal was ready because the hillside keep sloughing off into the canal, and the winding route made it difficult to keep it in water.
(Above) We then moved to the other end of the loop and wet area. I am standing on the towpath, and my wife, the bit of white and blue, is standing in the canal. The photos I took do not to justice to how well defined the towpath is at this point.
Once we knew where to look, we were able to follow the canal back toward the village. To the west of here, the Thruway has wiped out all traces of the canal, but we found what we thought might be more of the canal off in the woods.
(Below) Here is how close the Thruway is to this area.
After looking over the land, I still don't know why Route 31, or what was 31 before it was 31, took to the hills. I can see why the canal hugged this area. They wanted to reach Sackett's Lock before dropping down to the Montezuma level. But why the road avoided the route is still a mystery. Of course with the Thruway and the trolley line, so much as been lost, and much of what we were seeing or believed we were seeing was pure speculation. I found a culvert under the trolley line and told my wife with some confidence that the trolley used the old canal as a drainage ditch. Sounds good, doesn't it?
So there you have it. Good stuff for canal wonks. Please remember, this is posted land and I received permission to go exploring.
If you wish to see the canal, especially the enlarged canal, you can head over to the north side of the Thruway and travel down Maiden Lane Road and then onto Towpath Road for a bit (a dead end road). But the Thruway keeps you from looking for any early canal remains. Interestingly, if you are traveling along the Thruway (hopefully not driving) you can see a lot of early canal route, but it passes by too fast to make much sense of it all. So this area has always been of interest to me.
I looked on the Cayuga County GIS website and on Google Earth to see what might remain. The old fast trolley line was built along this route, covering over the first canal. But I did see spots that looked hopeful. With the permission of the land-owner; my wife, Lizzy the canal dog, and I took a walk on a very warm late winters day. I am happy we did, the leaves are already budding out and soon much of what I saw will be covered over for another summer.
Recall that the first canal is a contour canal, so we need to follow the lay of the land. This is very important, especially in this area, as the canal was built into the hillside. (Perhaps to skirt the muck-lands to the north?)
(Above) Here we are on the old trolley route, looking at a pond of sorts that I saw on Google Earth and Bing Maps 3-D. At this point, I am looking east toward Port Byron. My thought at this point is that the first canal is on the other side of this water. The water was likely impounded by the building of the trolley line. The Thruway is immediately to my left.
(Above) Here it is, just where I thought it might be. Filled with water, not all filled with trees and brush, at least for a very short length. The 1834 map below shows this section. The big loop is where the water is, and the photo is taken about where the canal cuts through thumb of land on the left side of the map. This section is almost pointed north. What is hard to see through the brush and trees is the lay of the land and how the canal was cut into the hillside.
If you read my book (go over to the Cayuga County Canals website and get it free), you might recall that the canal in this area was abandoned as soon as the enlarged canal was ready because the hillside keep sloughing off into the canal, and the winding route made it difficult to keep it in water.
(Above) We then moved to the other end of the loop and wet area. I am standing on the towpath, and my wife, the bit of white and blue, is standing in the canal. The photos I took do not to justice to how well defined the towpath is at this point.Once we knew where to look, we were able to follow the canal back toward the village. To the west of here, the Thruway has wiped out all traces of the canal, but we found what we thought might be more of the canal off in the woods.
(Below) Here is how close the Thruway is to this area.
After looking over the land, I still don't know why Route 31, or what was 31 before it was 31, took to the hills. I can see why the canal hugged this area. They wanted to reach Sackett's Lock before dropping down to the Montezuma level. But why the road avoided the route is still a mystery. Of course with the Thruway and the trolley line, so much as been lost, and much of what we were seeing or believed we were seeing was pure speculation. I found a culvert under the trolley line and told my wife with some confidence that the trolley used the old canal as a drainage ditch. Sounds good, doesn't it?So there you have it. Good stuff for canal wonks. Please remember, this is posted land and I received permission to go exploring.
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