Enlarged Erie Canal Lock 23

Lock 23 of the Enlarged Erie Canal, built in 1842, replaced nearby Lock 26 of the original Erie Canal and reflected the enlarged canal’s double-chamber design, which allowed canal boats drawn by mules and horses to pass in either direction at the same time while water in the closed chambers raised or lowered them by eight feet. It became especially important because canalers often used it as either the first or last lock before loading or unloading in Schenectady and taking an overland route to and from Albany to avoid the slow trip through the 22 locks between this point and the Hudson River. Although the canal had been popular, it was soon displaced by the rapidly expanding railway system after the Civil War. In the 1880s, one chamber of most locks, including one chamber of Lock 23, was extended to accommodate double-headers, two canal boats lashed together, but in 1903 the State Legislature chose to replace the Enlarged Canal with the new Barge Canal, which in this area used dams and locks on the Mohawk River, and Lock 23 was abandoned when that canal was completed in 1918. In the mid-1950s, the Town of Rotterdam used the lock to help support a new water main running through the lock chamber, and volunteers working with the town later recreated the locktender's hut and wooden pier; the site was listed on the New York State and National Historic Registers in 2008.

Rotterdam, New York · United States