Lockport Locks & Erie Canal Cruises

Description:

CONNECTING CULTURES - The Erie Canal carried not only materials and products between the east and west, it also transported social and cultural ideas. With the mixing of diverse groups came many new campaigns for social change and spiritual movements.

IMMIGRANT HIGHWAY - During the construction of the canal, large numbers of Irish workers settled in Lockport to work on the locks. When the construction was complete most of them followed the canal building jobs to other areas. Later, due to the combination of opportunity offered by canal powered industries and deteriorating conditions in their home countries, new waves of Irish, German, and Italian immigrants took the Erie Canal west to Lockport and beyond.

CLIMBING THE ESCARPMENT - Construction of the original five locks that stepped up the Niagara Escarpment was considered a triumph of human ingenuity. The Niagara Escarpment is a geological feature formed by erosion that extends across the Niagara Frontier. It is the same cliff responsible for the drop at Niagara Falls. This site was chosen for the locks because the escarpment had been cut by a gully that eased the sharp slope.

LOCKPORT IS BORN - Land speculators and businessmen saw opportunity at the site where the Erie Canal had to rise up the Niagara Escarpment, not only during the prolonged construction period but also after the canal was completed. A fringe benefit of conducting water from Lake Erie to the locks was that it could also be used to power industries.

THE FLIGHT OF FIVE - Lockport as it appeared in the early 20th Century. Both sets of the five-tiered 1862 locks are shown, and the pipe that carried the water to power the canal-side industries is on the left.

BIRDSILL HOLLY - He expanded the water power potential of the surplus canal water during the peak manufacturing era of the late 1800s.

LYMAN SPALDING - One of the earliest businessmen, he was the first to use the canal water to power his flour and lumber industries.

Thanks to Doug Farley and Jeff Degnan for information and photos on this panel.

Location:

Lockport Locks & Erie Canal Cruises
210-228 Market Street, Lockport, NY 14094
Phone: (800) 378-0352
Website: Click Here