The Cranebrook Aqueducts and the Location of Clinton' s Ditch Lock 61.

This post goes out with thanks to thanks to Paul and Bunny Baker and Stan and Cheryl Longyear, who arranged for us to go onto the private land to see these remains. 

If you have been reading these posts, your will know that the route of Clinton's Ditch in central New York was winding and fraught with issues. This was mostly due to the fact that the canal was built as a contour canal and tried to follow the lay of the land. To this, add the facts that the ground was soft, and the building material, mostly being gravel mined from the local drumlins, was porous and difficult to compact. This is all to say that the canal banks between Port Byron and the Seneca River were unstable and leaked. So one of the goals of the Enlargement was to straighten out the canal, and firm up the banks.

And let's not forget that the flow of water eastward from Lake Erie ended at the Seneca River slack water crossing. Other posts cover this in great detail, but quickly, the after 150 miles of downhill running from Lake Erie, the canal had to climb up over a short summit at Jordan and then downhill to Syracuse. Water for this section of canal came from Skaneateles Lake and Nine Mile Creek. The water supply was limited, and the flow in the canal was impeded by the twists and turns and the porous ground. We get to see the old canal in this 1853 map of Cayuga County. The line of the canal is shown as a dashed line and you can see the new canal to the north.

To eliminate these issues, the canal was straightened, Locks 60 was replaced with Enlarged 52 in Port Byron, and Locks 61 and 62 were replaced by the Seneca River Aqueduct.

Looking for it today becomes difficult as the land has been greatly altered by the construction of the NYS Thruway. Look for my posts detailing where the first canal is south of the Thruway and the Enlarged canal is north of the highway or under it. AND much of the land is in private hands. I don't enjoy getting shot at, so permission is always asked.

The Cranebrook aqueduct is on a large loop that hugged the contour of the land. If you are on Rt 31 east of Montezuma, look for the billboards that are set into the hillside that face the Thruway. 

Here you can see the bill boards in the trees. They are on the Ditch canal route. If you turn around, you see this depression and line of trees. The aqueduct is about 300 yards from here. This section of canal was last used in September 1854. Although the new Seneca River Aqueduct would not be ready for use until 1856, the canal was in such a bad condition that the State was forced to use the new Enlarged canal route between Port Byron and Montezuma. So a boater on the canal had to cross the Seneca River on the slackwater crossing, pass through a temporarily enlarged guard lock at Lock 62, pass through a section of old canal to reach the new line, use the new line between Montezuma and Port Byron, and then reenter the old canal between Port Byron and Weedsport. This state of affairs was somewhat eased with the opening of the Seneca River Aqueduct in 1856, but the canal issues in Port Byron were not settled until 1858.

So let's get on with Cranebrook Aqueduct. There isn't much to see, but there is enough. Here we see Stan standing on a stone we presume is left over from the aqueduct and is looking at the stonework on the southwest bank. 

 

It is likely that the stones were reused or removed to help ease flooding issues. Standing in the creek, we can see wooden piling from the foundation.

The Enlarged Cranebrook Aqueduct was located quite a ways downstream, but the building of the Thruway and the shifting of Rt 31 to cross it removed all traces of it.

After visiting the aqueduct, we went looking for the Sacket's Lock, which would have been lock 61. Being a smart guy, I though I knew where it was, and in fact, I even pointed out where it was to the assembled masses (all 4 of them). But after my return home, and doing a quick desktop survey, I realized I was very far off in my guess.

I did the study as a Publisher file, and I am too lazy to recreate it all here. So I converted the file to a pdf and then to a jpeg so I could post it here. Click on the photos and they will enlarge for you.

So to close this out, let me again say that the old structures are on private land, and we had permission to access. Please don't trespass.

Montezuma- Then and Now

 Mary and I took a walk around the Montezuma Heritage Park and I tried to get some then and now photos. It also shows just how hard it is to describe what use to be when so much has changed. Without a visual aid, can anyone really understand what use to be going on here? The top photo shows the Exchange Hotel and parts of the business area. The change over bridge going to the Cayuga Seneca Canal is directly overhead. We can see the shadow of the bridge on the path and some of the abutment stonework on the left. Today, this is the trailhead leading into the Park.



 

These two show the Montezuma Aqueduct. Looking at the top photo, it is easy to see what an aqueduct does. It is full of water, and boats float across the river. Today, not to easy. The wooden trunk is gone and we see the stonework. So where is the canal? It is especially hard as much of the stonework is gone also.

More of the Long Gone (Seneca River) Bridges of Cayuga County

Well, the search continues with help from Montezuma Historian Cheryl Longyear and Bill Hecht's site of old photos.You can find the collection that has these top photos here.

The top photo shows the bridge that carried the old West Shore (officially the New York, West Shore, and Buffalo Railway)  over the Seneca just north of Montezuma. My guess is that the photo was taken from the old Rochester, Syracuse and Eastern Interurban Trolley line bridge. This bridge is no longer there.
The bottom photo is of the New York Central RR mainline bridge, a much more substantial structure as it carried four tracks across the river.  This bridge is still being used.

These two photos show Free Bridge over the Seneca, which is now Route 5 and 20 across the Montezuma Marshes. I include the top photo because it is fairly representative of the style of bridges that were used to cross the river before the Barge Canal. As the river wasn't really used for shipping, the bridges could rest on low piles and be a much simpler structures. Once the Barge Canal was dredged out of the river, the bridges had to be rebuilt and or raised. The 1917 photo of the new "Free Bridge" shows what was built to replace the older crossing. Of course, this bridge was replaced by a newer bridge which is called the Menard Memorial bridge, and now that is now going to be rebuilt. Locals still call it "free bridge".

The (Long Gone) Seneca River Bridges of Cayuga County

 I am on a quest to find photos of all of the original Seneca River / Barge Canal bridges and I have a couple from my files. The bridge above was the first that crossed the river north of Weedsport on what is now Route 34. The little building in front was used by the local buoy boat men to house the boat and supplies.

 

This was the bridge over the river north of Port Byron on what is now Rt 38. This bridge had to jump two channels, which is why it is so long. 

The first was the natural channel that went north around Haiti Island, before it was an island, but just a bump of land surrounded on three sides by the river. The second channel was the man made channel that created really turned Haiti Island into an island for real. A new channel cut off all the loops around the group of islands in this area, and the junction of the Owasco Outlet and Seneca River was moved west.

All these bridges have the decorative panel at the end of the span over the right of way. Does this keep people from climbing up there? Birds from sitting?

My good friend and the Montezuma Historian Cheryl Longyear kindly sent along photos of the Montezuma bridge, which carried Rt 31 over the Seneca. Look at the size difference between the old and new.

  

I have included this last one as it does show some of the bridge, but also a boat house that I never knew about. 

The man is Arthur Helmer, who if you have ever read "Drums Along the Mohawk" , you would know this man's family and run of Adam Helmer, who is buried in Weedsport.  

 Here is the Montezuma bridge as it sits today.

Montezuma Walking Tour

Again this year, we will hold our yearly walking tour on the Canal Splash weekend, which takes place August 9-11. We will hold our tour on Saturday, beginning at 9am. It will follow the same format as last years, which you can view here.

If you have been on the tour before, you will see a lot of the same thing, but you will also be able to see the changes that have taken place inside the park. The park volunteers have been doing great work and it seems every time I go back, I see a new change. New kiosks, maps, trail markings, and the mural, are all making the park more accessible and easier to understand.

The way we do this walk is to walk out the Towpath to the Montezuma Aqueduct, exploring the sites along the way, and then if it is dry enough, cross over to the berme side and walk back so we can view the old paper mill. If it is too wet, we will skip the paper mill and instead cross over at Chapman Road so you can see the best preserved lock on the old Cayuga Seneca Canal.

This is a very flat walk with a very leisurely pace. The total walk is only about two to two and a half miles. There is a lot of stopping and talking. If you need, I think Stan will have his "canal cab" available to those who might need a ride part of the way.

We will meet at the Firehouse, at the trailhead with the new mural. There is plenty of parking in this area. If you have not been to the Montezuma Heritage Park blog, go take a visit.

Plans for 2013

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Another search for Clinton's Ditch

As you travel west along Rt 31, between Port Byron and Montezuma, you will pass over the route of Clinton's Ditch and the Enlarged Canal, although you will never know it unless you really are paying attention.
















As it leaves Port Byron, Rt 31 climbs up and over a series of small hills. The canals are located to the north, built in the flat of old stream flows or perhaps the old river flow. The Thruway is following the route of the canals. About half way to Montezuma, Rt 31 drops off the hill, and begins to cross a flat area.

It is fairly easy to miss, but Clinton's Ditch is located at the base of the hill, following the contour of the land around this small flat area. This area might have been formed by Cranebrook, which is flowing in from the south. Stop and carefully park on the shoulder of the highway. Look off to the north for the billboard which is orientated for viewing from the Thruway. Look for the pine trees also. Then follow the contour of the land as it loops around the flat area. The canal is covered with trees and deadwood, so it is hard to see, especially in the summer months.

The enlarged canal is located on the north side of the Thruway, which you can see off to the north of Rt 31. In this area, the Thruway was built right on top of the enlarged canal, destroying any sign of it.



As you drive west, you will see how a knob of land rises from the south, near where the road crosses the Thruway and Cranebrook. Clinton's Ditch made a loop around this knob of land, stepping down through a lock to the level of Montezuma. The lock is gone. There was also a aqueduct that carried the canal over the brook somewhere back in there.



This is also where the enlarged canal passed from northeast to southwest, before it turned west toward the Seneca River Aqueduct.