OK, maybe I should learn to be more positive. But we’re talking about Little graybeard, you know the car we’ve been waiting for a part for since last November. So why should I not be surprised when we went back today and the answer was, Sorry the part hasn’t come in. Ah well, it is what it is.
Today, before we left the area, we wanted to do a bit more exploring and sightseeing. We kept seeing signs for the Erie Canal here and there in our travels in this area and so we decided to find out what we could about it. Hence, after the abortive attempt at getting Little Graybeard fixed this morning we were off to the Erie Canal Museum.
The Museum was only a 45-minute ride from our home. The trip there was a breeze. Once there, though, parking was a bit of a mystery. The signs kept directing us to a parking lot but the parking lot had signs saying permit parking only. Two times around and we finally said what the hey and turned into the lot. Guess what? Not until you enter do you see signs for Museum Parking off in one section. Go figure.
As we approached the Museum and even before we entered it we learned some fascinating information. We learned ,for instance, that the street we were standing on which was Erie Blvd was once a part of the Erie Canal.
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We also found a monument that was erected and dedicated to the mules and their drivers that once walked the tow paths of the Canal.
Next we found out that the museum itself was actually what was originally known as the Weighlock Building where canal boats were weighted and tolls paid when Erie Blvd was actually the Erie Canal. The building was originally built of brick and is the only surviving building of its type today.
Now, how did one know the toll to be paid? The process was really quite simple. The canal boat was pulled into the lock, all water was drained, the boat then settled unto
a massive cradle suspended from balance beams. Cargo weight equaled total weight minus empty boat weight. Tolls were assessed based on that weight plus the type of cargo.
This is the Weighlock Building today, it is the current Erie Canal Museum Building.
We also discovered that buildings constructed on the banks of the canal had two very distinct sides to them, one side of course faced the canal the other side faced the street.
The street side was usually quite ornate with an eye to attracting customers. The canal side was most often plain and simple. The exception to this was the Weighlock building whose canal side was usually ornate and elaborate with an eye toward attracting canal customers. The mural below is a two story painting of the inside of a canal warehouse.
Now we were ready to actually enter the Museum. A simple white sign pointed us in the right direction.
Once inside there was a sign welcoming us to the museum.
Time now to discover what this Canal was really all about. We learned that the Erie Canal was North America’s most successful and influential public works project. Built between 1817 and 1825, this 363-mile-long canal was the first all-water link between the Atlantic Seaboard and the Great Lakes.
When completed it would have a depth of 4 feet, a width of 40 feet, 83 lift locks, 18 stone aqueducts and an elevation change of 875 feet. The Canal cut through fields, forests, rocky cliffs and swamps, crossed rivers and over came hills. Many thought it would never be completed in their lifetime but they were definitely wrong in that it was completed in just 8 years.
Enthusiasm for completing a navigable water route across New York gained momentum in 1792 with the establishment of two canal companies who were tasked with improving the waterways along the Mohawk and Hudson Rivers.
Their work opened people’s eyes to the huge commercial potential of such a canal across New York. However, in 1808 then President Jefferson refused to give his blessing to such a project. Undeterred, New York State established a Board of Canal Commissioners to further investigate the possibility of an inland waterway.
After years of debate in 1817 ,the New York Legislature passed the Canal Bill and work began immediately.
In the end the Erie Canal was built solely by the state of New York.
From beginning to end New York Gov. DeWitt Clinton relentlessly promoted its construction. Skeptics just as forcefully derided it as Clinton’s Ditch, but Clinton would be vindicated. The Canal fostered national unity and economic power. It made New York the Empire State and New York City the nations’s prime seaport and seat of world trade. The Erie Canal carried more westbound immigrants that any other trans-Appalachian canal. Passengers traveled from Albany to Buffalo in five days, not the typical 2 weeks in a crowded stagecoach. Freight rates fell 90 percent compared to shipping by ox-drawn wagons.
So the Canal began. But what route to take? Where would it terminate at its Western end? Who would be the chief engineer for the project? Where would the hands be found to construct it?
There were two routes that were considered. One would have used Lake Ontario and minimized canal construction. The other route was a longer, interior route along the Mohawk River Valley and on across the state to Lake Erie. In the end the interior route was chosen.
Where would it terminate at it’s Western end? Would it be Buffalo or Black Rock? In the end the Canal Commission selected the small village of Buffalo to be the terminus.
The port city of Buffalo is both a testament to and beneficiary of the canal’s power. The endless traffic of Great Lakes ships, canal boats and railcars directly influenced the growth and prosperity of the city making it an icon of culture, architecture and the arts.
Who would be the chief engineer for the project? In 1817 the Canal Commission appointed Benjamin Wright one of the lead engineers of the Erie Canal. Although he was self taught, his vast experience and knowledge of the Mohawk Valley ultimately qualified him to be one of the chief engineers of the Canal.
Where would the hands be found to construct it? Some laborers were Irish immigrants, but most were US-born. For eight years of wet, heat, and cold, they felled trees and excavated, mostly by hand and animal power, mile after mile.
We’re going to call it a wrap for now. Tomorrow I’ll share with you some of the challenges involved in constructing various sections of the Erie Canal. I will also share with you pictures of a boat we took locking through a still working lock as it was on its way from Lake Cayuga to the Thousand Islands.
We had an absolutely fantastic day – yea, even though the car was a bummer – and we once again did it our way, traveling along, singing our song, side by side. We thank you for joining us on our journey and hope you enjoyed our adventure of discovery. For now I’ll say goodnight and leave you with this to ponder on:
As always, if you are coming to the end of your day with concerns and worries, let me suggest that you turn them over to God. After all, He is going to be up all night so why not let him handle them for you.
Time now for our evening prayers and eventually some shut-eye. Till tomorrow.
These are the voyages of Graybeard and it’s occupants, four paws and two humans. Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have not been before
"On The Road of Retirement" 
Lots of long hard days by determined men to build this canal. Thanks for the ride.
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