Featured Historic Site

The Seneca River Crossing Canals Historic District, listed on the State and National Registers of Historic Places in 2006, is significant in illustrating one hundred years of canal engineering in New York State. The 70 acre district on the Seneca River in the towns of Montezuma and Tyre contains intact portions of the original 1817-1825 Erie Canal, the Cayuga & Seneca Canal (an early lateral canal), the 1835-1862 enlarged Erie Canal and the 1905-1918 New York State Barge Canal as well as the archaeological remains of a lock tender's house and a commercial drydock. The Richmond Aqueduct, built in 1849-1857 and partially dismantled in 1917 is the centerpiece of this district. Named for canal engineer Van R. Richmond, the aqueduct, as originally built, was almost 900 feet in length and 86 feet in width. Its towpath was carried above a Roman-inspired limestone structure comprised of 31 massive arches. Nine of these arches and their related piers and abutments remain today.

The significance of the Erie Canal in American history, engineering and culture cannot be overstated. The Erie Canal represented the most ambitious and innovative public works project of its day. The canal facilitated the economic development of New York State and the Great Lakes Region, provided a training ground for American civil engineers and boosted national pride. The economic impact of the canal was immediate and far reaching and made lasting impacts on American life and culture.

River crossings, flood plains and swamp lands stood as major challenges in engineering the original Erie Canal. In crossing the Seneca River in Central New York, locks lowered the original canal to river level and canal boats were led across the river itself with the aid of a wooden towpath. This arrangement proved less than satisfactory due to periodic flooding, silting, unstable canal walls and periodic damage from river ice. Separating the canal from the river with the use of an aqueduct ultimately corrected these deficiencies but proved to be a major investment of time and money. Construction of the aqueduct began in 1849 as part of a long term program of enlargements and improvements to the Erie Canal planned to increase the canal's capacity. The aqueduct project involved the placement of almost 5000 pilings, thousands of tons of dressed limestone blocks and large quantities of hydraulic cement. A forest of lumber was consumed in building a continuous submerged bearing platform for the structure as well as for the fifty-foot wide trough that carried canal boats over the structure. The aqueduct was completed and opened for use in 1857 and was celebrated as one of the engineering marvels of the canal at the time. The aqueduct and its approaches followed a different alignment from the original canal, portions of which remain intact at the site.

Plans for further enlargement of the Erie Canal culminated in the early twentieth century with legislation authorizing the construction of the New York State Barge Canal. Built between 1905 and 1918, the Barge Canal employed technologies that made the navigation of the Mohawk, Oswego and Seneca rivers practical as alternatives to the dug channels of the nineteenth century. The Barge Canal used the channel of the Seneca River, with modifications for a portion of its length. This necessitated the removal of much of the aqueduct structure and the dredging of the river. Fortunately, portions of the aqueduct on the east and west banks of the river were spared, leaving us with evidence of this remarkable nineteenth century engineering accomplishment. Lock 11 of the Cayuga & Seneca Canal and adjacent features at the site were simply abandoned and remain well-preserved today.

The State and National Register recognition of the aqueduct and the associated canal features at the Seneca River Crossing is intended to support current initiatives to provide improved public access to the site and comprehensive plans for the stabilization and interpretation of its historic structures. The documentation assembled as part of the nomination process will help to direct these initiatives and qualifies the site to apply for competitive state and federal preservation funds.