Lock No. 50

Lock No. 50. Delaware and Hudson Canal. This is Lock No. 50, operated by P.O. Callahan, one of ninety-five wood-lined units on the 108-mile-long canal; the remaining thirteen locks were lined with local stone hand-cut to fit the chambers. , The P.O. Callahan lock marked the end of the seventeen-mile "Summit Level” section, which required no locks, and also marked the beginning of the canal's gradual descent to Rondout and the Hudson River. Starting here, the locks progressed through Phillipsport like steps down to the Hudson. This lock is the first of ten Phillipsport locks set in a two-mile stretch of the canal. Because locking through this section took three hours crew members and family members would leave the boat and shop while the husband or owner stayed with the boat. As a result, Phillipsport became a busy center of commerce. , Like this one, most of the locks were known by number and by the name of the operator; but Lock No. 51, the "Pie Lock," was named for the bread and delicious little pies that were baked and sold by the locktender's wife in the locktender's store. On occasion the pies were handed out as treats to children who came by on the boats.