 5.15 Miles on the Erie Canal
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Apr. 17th, 2008 @ 02:20 pm 
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As part of my continuing physical therapy I took a long walk this morning on one of Amsterdam's forgotten treasures: the towpath of the old Erie Canal, the original (well, widened and deepened in 1835) Clinton's Ditch which made New York "The Empire State" by linking New York City with the granaries of the old Northwest Territories, abandoned now nearly a hundred years.
Not too many people use the old towpath in the section that runs for a couple of miles through the city between the ditch and the Mohawk River and extends onward to the old Yankee Hill Lock site, above (from there it is well-maintained for an additional 2.3 miles to the Schoharie Crossing in Fort Hunter). Still, despite some long-ago industrial dumping at the eastern end, it is a pleasant walk, especially on a gorgeous spring day, and the frustrated archaeologist, historian and civil engineer in me took no time in linking fancy unto fancy as I cruised along.
My father-in-law, Herb Thackrah, was born in 1902 and could remember back when the canal was still in use. It ran through Amsterdam's south side, with a large parking pond where the South Side Veterans' Park now stands. In the winter the frozen canal became a long and narrow skating rink. When he was twelve or thirteen Herb skated with the twin Shuttleworth girls (daughters of the owner of Mohawk Carpets) through this same section I was now walking, all the way to Fort Hunter, nearly five miles distant.
This took the better part of the afternoon, and as twilight approached the local constabulary were called out to investigate the possible kidnapping. Herb chuckled a lot telling me that story 65 years later. He had, in fact, been named for the first Herbert Shuttleworth, the rug-making king and a poker-playing buddy of Mary's grandfather.
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At the city end, the old canal was partly filled in by the dumping of coal ashes (coal being the principal fuel for early central heating), and nature has reclaimed a good part of the rest in the ninety years since the final abandonment. No parts of it maintain anything close to the 1835 seven foot depth, and most, if not all, of the cut limestone embankments seem to have been requisitioned for other purposes. Still, some fairly long stretches contain enough water to be navigable by canoe or kayak, provided some mighty big trees both standing and fallen are removed.
In other places, dikes were built long ago to re-divert several small feeder streams to their natural outlet, the Mohawk River. But it doesn't take a whole lot of imagination to picture modern excavation equipment and a few chain saws relinking and reopening the whole canal from the Schoharie to the South Chuctanunda, a five mile glorious water passage through old woods and time.
For now, it would be nice to clean it up a bit, get rid of the old tires and junk that mar the view, trim the scrub bushes back some, organize the deadfall.
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The towpath runs parallel and slightly downhill from the Montgomery County Bike Path, which follows the bed of the old West Shore Railroad. That path is well-used, and I ran into quite a few people as I took that route back to Amsterdam. But on the much prettier and softer towpath I saw not a soul.
Halfway through the first half of my walk I came upon the Lock 11 dam on the Mohawk River/ Barge Canal, located adjacent to colonial Guy Park Manor, built by Sir William Johnson for his nephew (and son-in-law) Guy Johnson. During my time in City Hall I tried to develop some interest in using the existing superstructure for a pedestrian bridge that would link the west end of Amsterdam with the towpath and bike path. The Canal Corporation engineers assured us it could be done, for a price (one that would be enormously cheaper than the $16.5 million dollar pedestrian bridge planned for a mile or so downstream).
A lovely greenway along the Mohawk River, accessible by bike, by kayak, by a pleasant footpath, adjacent on the north side to a pedestrian boulevard along the river, like in Paris, linking Guy Park Manor with the Riverlink Park performing arts center-- what a beautiful waterfront I would build! A small hydro-generation plant at the dam would provide green power to light the way. Footbridges to the river islands. Maybe even gondolas.
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It will never happen, of course.
Read and comment on my novel The Evil Has Landed. Free!
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| From: | (Anonymous) |
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| Date: |
April 23rd, 2008 06:01 pm (UTC) |
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This reminds me of several stretches of the Delaware-Raritan canal in Jersey. Some of my favorite walks took place up and down that canal. New Jersey has turned much of its length into parks so it's better-preserved.
![[User Picture Icon]](http://p-userpic.livejournal.com/27459829/6191726) |
| From: | ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) rgoing |
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April 23rd, 2008 07:57 pm (UTC) |
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Yes, that is a lovely spot. I've driven through that area a couple of times and wished I'd had time to stop. I have a long term goal of someday sneaking my canoe into the upper reaches of the East Branch of the Delaware, paddling through the reservoir at night, hiding out by day on one of the islands, and then taking it through the Water Gap and all the way to the Delaware Bay.
I'll never do it, of course, but the rebel in me longs to take advantage of the NO TRESPASSING area. Where are Tom and Huck when you need them?
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