Tonawanda Creek was the only section of the original Erie Canal that was not man-made, but its water level ran 4-½ feet too low, so a wooden dam was built in 1823 just west of the mouth of Ellicott Creek. The dam raised the water enough for barges to navigate between the creek and the channel at Pendleton, and it also allowed water from Lake Erie to flow eastward rather than back into the Niagara River, saving the labor that deepening would have required. Tonawanda Dam was rebuilt more than once, in 1839 and again in 1881, and remained in place until the Barge Canal was built. Because the Barge Canal entered directly into the Niagara River at Tonawanda instead of the early 19th-century channel to Buffalo, the dam became an obstacle and was torn down in 1918.