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Photographer: Anton Schwarzmueller
Taken: May 16, 2015
Caption: Kiosk Towpath & Aqueduct Information
Additional Description: Towpath and Richmond Aqueduct. This segment of the towpath trail is part of the first enlargement of the canal that widened and moved just south of the original Clinton's Ditch. It served as the walking path for mules, horses, and their drivers to pull the boats, and leads to a high embankment onto the Richmond Aqueduct that carried the canal over the Seneca River.

Work began on 1849 on the "water bridge," named for Van Richmond who designed it. It replaced the hazards of crossing directly through the river by lifting the canal up over it. Completed in 1857 it cost $216,510.63.

The second largest aqueduct on the Erie Canal, the aqueduct consisted of 110,000 linear feet of wood pilings that were driven into the soft ground to help provide support for the 31 stone arches that were 11 feet high and 22 feet wide spanning the Seneca River. The aqueduct was almost 900 feet long and 86 feet wide, consisting of limestone masonry. It was dismantled on 1917 to make way for the newly constructed Barge Canal. Seven arches remain today on the east side of the canal and three on the west side.
Submitted: May 22, 2015, by Anton Schwarzmueller of Wilson, New York.
Database Locator Identification Number: p308913
File Size: 3.776 Megabytes

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