Lock 67 on the Erie Canal - Lockport, New York - Waterway Locks, Planes and Lifts on Waymarking.com

In order to reach Lake Erie from the Hudson River, it was necessary for the Erie Canal to surmount the Niagara Escarpment at Lockport. A competition for the design of canal locks over the escarpment was held and won by Nathan Roberts, a mathematics teacher and land speculator. Basically his design consisted of 5 pairs of locks so that one flight could be used for boats going up and the other flight used for boats going down, saving a significant amount of time and water consumption. The locks were constructed from 1817 to 1825. These locks were completely removed and replaced with a larger set of locks constructed from 1836 to 1862. Eventually the south flight of the replacement set (locks 79, 80, 81, 82 and 83) were demolished and replaced by the present pair of New York State Barge Canal locks (see Waymark WMVG9) E-34 and E-35 constructed from 1909 to 1918. The north flight of replacement locks (locks 67, 68, 69, 70 and 71) remains and is used as a spillway. For an excellent in-depth history of these locks, see the Historic American Engineering Record, “Erie Canal, Lockport Locks” prepared by Historian J. Lawrence Lee, Ph.D., P.E. in 2005.

The 364 miles of the Erie Canal went into full operation beginning in 1825; the canal is still in operation today. Details about the Erie Canal can be found at the web site listed below known as the Erie Canal which contains a good summary of the canal's history, and a number of excellent links. Other sources of information are available at the American Canal Society and the Canal Society of New York.

Waterway Name: The Erie Canal Connected Points: The Erie canal links the waters of Lake Erie in the west to the Hudson River in the east. Type: Lock Date Opened: 10/25/1825 Elevation Difference (meters): 3.00 Site Status: Inactive Web Site: [Web Link] Date Closed (if applicable): Not listed

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