The Erie Canal meets the Hudson River at Waterford, NY, several miles north of Troy and Albany. The intersection is a three way, with the Hudson going south, the Erie Canal going west, and the Champlain Canal going north.
Waterford is
a sleepy, old, decaying town that saw its heyday when there was barge
traffic down the Canal. With the advent of the interstate system and
modern railroads, much of the barge traffic disappeared, and this town,
like so many others along the Canal, had no reason to exist. Left
behind here and there is architectural evidence of more prosperous times
and artifacts of earlier days.
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| Coca Cola "Relieves Fatigue"? "Sold Everywhere" - still true 5c - not quite |
Waterford did have a nice Sunday morning farmers' market along the canal right where we were docked and we picked up some delicious baked goods and fresh vegetables. Like all the towns that are trying to appeal to tourists, Waterford had several information signs around the tiny business area.
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| At the farmers' market: a tribute to the mules that pulled the barges. "I've got a mule and her name is Sal. Fifteen miles on the Erie Canal." Sea Bee docked in the background. |
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| Some informational signs are more entertaining than others. |
When our forefathers decided to build a waterway connecting the Great
Lakes with the Hudson, they realized that they would have to 'lock' that
waterway to go from the Hudson at Waterford, at 14 feet above sea
level, up the Adirondacks to Utica at 420 feet above sea level.
In the late 1700s, they didn't have the technology to built locks on the Mohawk River, so they dug, BY HAND, a four foot deep canal, together with aqueducts to cross streams and creeks some 80 miles to Little Falls, NY.
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| A remnant of the old canal. |
Today, the 'old' canal is no longer used, with the 'modern' canal being mostly the 'locked' Mohawk River.
At Waterford, we encountered a 'flight' of five locks within a three mile stretch of the canal. Each of these locks raised up about 30 feet, for a total of a 168 foot rise at end of the fifth lock.
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| Approaching Lock #4 as the gates are opening. |
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| While Howard guides the boat to the lock wall, June lassoes a cable on the wall to secure the boat as we ride up in waters filling the lock. |
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| Near the top of the lock. | | | |
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Next stop: Scotia Landing, where there was chamber music in the park where we were docked.
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| Sea Bee on the left at Scotia Landing river park docks. |
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| The Wister Quartet from Philadelphia. |
From Scotia we went on to Amsterdam for two nights. This town was the home of Mohawk carpet mills before they moved to Georgia. The marina is at lovely Riverlink Park, but the shopping mall just across the railroad tracks went bust and now houses mostly offices and some unexciting stores.
In contrast, next to Riverlink Park is the Mohawk Valley Gateway Overlook, a beautiful pedestrian bridge with
trees, plantings, art, and informational placards. The MVGO leads to the Erie Canalway trail that parallels the canal for most of its way.
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| MVGO |
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| MVGO |
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| Schoharie Crossing Park along the Canalway. Remains of the original
canal in the foreground , Mohawk River in the background, and general store that once served the canal workers. |
It was a very nice day for a bike ride along the Canalway, but unfortunately, the chain on Howard's bike broke at the halfway point,
about 5 miles from the boat, so he had to walk the bike all the way
back.
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| Howard and his bike on the Canalway |
Then on to Canajoharie, former home of the Beech Nut Company. There is a 27 acre, 800,000 square foot plant where all kinds of Beech Nut products were made, but the company moved some twenty miles away 10 years ago because in the process of trying to modernize their buildings, they found that the cost of removing the asbestos insulation was more than the cost of building a new plant. So this little town lost some 2,000 jobs.
The former president of Beech Nut built and funded an art museum in town,The Arkell Museum, that has a very nice collection of American art from the 19th and 20th century. It is a rare find in these small towns.
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| Arkell Museum |
Canajoharie is also home to a 'dummy' traffic light, which means that it is on a pedestal in the middle of the intersection. Supposedly, there are only three such lights still in use in the U.S. I don't know why this is worthy of mention, but it is mentioned in all the tour guides.
Then on to Little Falls, where the Mohawk River drops some 30 feet over a distance of just a few miles. So the current canal deviates from the Mohawk and has a lock that raises the level 31 feet, one of the tallest locks on the canal.
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| The Mohawk River at Little Falls |
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We spent two nights there having arrived in time for the 30th Annual Little Falls Canal Celebration. On Thursday night there was a Canal Day party, with food stalls and a band --and fireworks!
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| The fireworks are reflected in the canal waters. |
On Friday night, there was a small parade. This town has a very active Rotary and Elk presence.
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| Boaters and locals at Rotary Park Marina in Little Falls |
Little Falls prospered in the early 19th century as a cheese manufacturing center. Milk from the farms surrounding the town was processed here, and the cheese was shipped worldwide from the canal. But like so many other cities on the canal, the advent of the interstate highways and the railroads spelled doom for the canal use, and hence the economy of these cities. Again, there is architectural evidence of more prosperous times.
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| Little Falls City Hall |
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| Main Street, Little Falls |
Little Falls is in some ways a gem of the region, set between the
mountains and an especially pretty part of the Mohawk River.
In
addition, some of the abandoned manufacturing buildings have been turned
into a hotel, restaurants and antique shops in an area called Canal
Place. The proprietor at a wine store, however, told us that two years ago, there were 40 days during the winter where the temperature was below zero! Too cold for us!
