Day 30 of the 365 Project: Erie Canal Aqueduct Near the Sims General Store, Camillus, New York Crossing Nine Mile Creek
I’m A Nature Photographer, But I Like History Too
Besides landscape and nature photography I like to photograph local history places and subjects too.
The Nine Mile Creek Aqueduct was built for the Erie Canal expansion and opened in 1842 and was in use until 1919.
The aqueduct portion (not shown in the photo more on this later) was rebuilt in 2009.
The limestone bridge and arches are original. The rebuilt aqueduct that carries water in the Erie Canal over Nine Mile Creek is made of pressure-treated wood and can be seen under the arches I believe the aqueduct is eight or nine feet deep and is open to boat traffic.
This aqueduct is 110 feet long and 44 feet wide.
You can see a top-down view of the aqueduct can be seen here on the Erie Canalway National Heritage website.
If you are unfamiliar with the Erie Canal often referred to as Clinton’s Ditch (much of the original canal is still visible and compared to the current canal it was a ditch. It was 30 feet wide and only 4 to 5 feet deep and crossed all of New York State from East to West. The canal was expanded a few times as traffic increased.
Barges were transported down the canal by horse or other beasts of burden. The animals walked on what is called the Tow Path.
In this day and age, the towpaths are used for walking and biking and I believe you can walk or ride the whole length of the canal with only a few detours on roadways.
Day 30 is in the books! A month of daily photos and posts!
