The "Old" Erie Canal, Lock 52, Port Byron, New York

While driving back to Connecticut today, I decided to stop at a historical sight along the interstate. This location is located near the Port Byron rest area going East on I-90. I have pasted this area several times, and never stopped...Shame on me! This location is dated 1851, and was an old lock in The Erie Canal.
The Erie Canal is a waterway that extends from Buffalo, New York at Lake Erie to Albany, New York at The Hudson River. Continuing, down the Hudson River to New York and out to the Atlantic. This waterway is 363 miles total, and has 36 locks in the waterway. Construction began on the canal in 1817 and completed in 1825. The canal opened on October 26, 1825. At that time, the canal was technological marvel. The canal fostered a population surge in western New York state, opened regions farther west to settlement, and helped New York City become the chief U.S. port. It was enlarged between 1834 and 1862. In 1918, the enlarged canal was replaced by the larger New York State Barge Canal.
Erie Canal Lock 52 Complex is a national historic district located at Port Byron and Mentz in Cayuga County, New York. The district includes two contributing buildings (the Erie House and the blacksmith shop / mule barn); three contributing engineering structures (Erie Canal Lock 52, culvert, and canal prism of the enlarged Erie Canal); and archaeological sites associated with the canal operations. Lock 52 was constructed 1849-1853 as part of the Enlarged Erie Canal program. It remained in operation until the rerouting of the canal under the New York State Barge Canal System in 1918.

Listed on the National Register of Historical Places in 1998

Please, read more at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erie_Canal


Check out this video that I stumpled upon on Youtube...it puts it into perspective on how Lock 52 looked like.