Rochester, New York History - Page 4
Map of Enlarged Erie Canal in Rochester, NY - 1862
Map of Enlarged Erie Canal in Rochester, NY - 1862
By 1835 the canal could not support the traffic it had generated. It's aqueducts were all narrow and allowed only one way traffic. The canal's 84 locks were all single except the five at Lockport, and the dimension of the prism allowed boats of only 70 tons.
These problems were addressed by the construction of the Enlarged Erie Canal between 1835 and 1862 at a cost of $31,000,000. The enlarged prism had a 70' surface, 56' bottom and was 7' deep (from 40' x 28' x 4' in Clinton's Ditch.) This improvement allowed boats of 210-240 tons.
Seventy-two double locks were constructed 110' x 18', replacing 84 older locks measuring 95' x 15'.
The canal was straightened, eliminating 13 miles from its course.
During the construction of the shorter route many loops and turns were eliminated by building only the new straight embankment and towpath, allowing the water to fill the entire old loop creating a 'widewater'. Although often said to have been constructed as turning basins, the widewaters were just a by-product of this construction method. Three of these widewater basins were in the Rochester area, at the Oxbow in Fairport (Fullam's Basin), the Eastern Widewaters at the base of Cobb's Hill at Culver Road, and the western widewaters; just northwest of Lexington Avenue at Mount Read Boulevard.
The locks at Rochester were: 63 Brighton, 64 Sipples, 65 Reservoir, 66 Rochester.
Between 1836 - 1842 a new Aqueduct with a 45' interior width is built, just south of the old one. Constructed with a different alignment that eliminated an acute bend at its eastern end, the new structure was 46' longer than the original. The new Aqueduct had a total length of 848' and was supported by 7 arches, with the two arches at the western end rebuilt as a wall of solid masonry. This aqueduct was unique in the Enlarged Erie Canal as it had no wooden lining for the water. It was constructed entirely of Onondaga Limestone.
Started in 1836, the Genesee Valley Canal, designed as a north-south companion to the Erie Canal. reaches Mt Morris in 1840. Built to avoid problems on the unpredictable Genesee the canal reaches Olean, in 1856. Pennsylvania never starts it's portion of the water route to Ohio, as railroads are already replacing canals.
A period of minor improvements occurred in the late 1880's. Locks were lengthened to permit the passage of double tows. Usually, but not always, locks were lengthened at the foot of the berme chamber. The Brighton (63) and Sipples (64) locks were in modified in1889, but the project was not completed at the Reservoir (65) and Rochester (66) Locks until 1890.
Panorama Pictures of Rochester and Events in History
Map of the Rochester's subway system 1928
Map of the Rochester's subway system 1928
New Subway and Bridge across Genesee River, Rochester, NY
Rochester subway construction along Erie Canal aqueduct downtown
City Hall and Subway Entrance, Rochester, N.Y.
Subway car at Monroe Avenue Station, Rochester, NY
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Panoramic
Map of Rochester, 1880
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