Stone arches at Plotter Kill are the remains of an aqueduct that carried the Erie Canal across Plotter Kill Creek. Aqueducts carried the canal and its towpath over rivers, ravines, and other obstructions by combining an arched stone bridge for the towpath with stone pilings supporting a wooden trough through which the canal flowed. This aqueduct dates to 1840, when it was built as part of the First Enlargement of the canal, replacing a smaller aqueduct on the Plotter Kill just north of this structure. It stood between Locks 24 and 25 of the Enlarged Canal, and while the canal was in use it was usually known as Van Slyck’s or the Flat Stone Creek Aqueduct. On July 21, 1890, a flood destroyed nearly all of it, washing away two stone piers, most of the wooden trough, and all but the wing walls of the towpath bridge, forcing the closure of the entire canal for eleven days until a temporary structure was put in place. As a result, most of the remaining aqueduct dates from the 1890s, and seams in the bridge show where new middle arches were joined to the older wing walls. After the canal was abandoned in 1918, the aqueduct fell into disrepair, and some stones from its piers were later reused in the abutments for the adjacent Route 5S bridge. Stone walls for the canal still remain visible on either side of the stream, and the canal prism is evident on the western edge of the parking lot, where the Mohawk-Hudson Bike-Hike Trail follows the canal’s towpath for several miles.
