Dams and Waterfalls

Log dams on the lower Chuctanunda Creek helped homespun industries by regulating the creek’s flow for industrial use, storing water for times of low water, and increasing the power available to factories; at least seven dams were identified there, with the dam at Shuttleworth Park built for recreation while the others served industry. Some dams created ponds of several acres that were later filled in and built over. Water was first channeled against vertical water wheels and later against more efficient horizontal turbines, with the wheel’s rotation transferred to machinery through gears, pulleys, and belts. Water was also withdrawn for heating, cooling, cleaning, dyeing textiles, and later generating steam power. Excess water flowing over the dams created waterfalls like the natural falls closer to the Mohawk River, and swirling water carrying harder rock fragments scoured the streambed into potholes called Pitted Rocks, including bathtub-sized holes visible at the dam just north of here. Numerous quarries near the banks of the Chuctanunda supplied mainly limestone for local building, for the enlarged second Erie Canal, and for the State Capitol, and the limestone was also fired in nearby kilns to make quicklime for fertilizer, mortar, cement, glass, and theatrical lighting.

Amsterdam, New York · United States