Rexford Aqueduct Ruins

Rexford Aqueduct Ruins. . , When New York Governor DeWitt Clinton first proposed the Erie Canal, naysayers mocked it as "Clinton's Ditch" and "Clinton's Folly." By the time it opened in 1825, however, the waterway was heralded as one of the world's greatest engineering achievements. , Stretching 363 miles from Albany to Buffalo, the challenging topography forced workers to dig much of the original canal by hand. Locks were installed to maneuver elevation changes, while aqueducts kept the canal flowing across rivers and other waterways., To avoid particularly steep and rocky terrain in this area, Lock 22 was built, with the canal crossing the river by aqueduct here in Rexford, and then again downstream along a second aqueduct at Crescent (about 15 miles east along the trail). , Built in 1825, the first aqueduct here was called the Upper Mohawk. It was replaced 20 years later by the Rexford Aqueduct, during the enlargement of the Erie Canal., When New York State launched an even larger Barge Canal system, around 1916, much of the Rexford aqueduct was dismantled to "canalize" the Mohawk River. This allowed vessels big enough to compete with new railroads., Remains of the aqueduct stone piers were eventually repurposed as the base of a highway bridge across the river. You can still see, and stand on, the ruins visible to your lower right (accessible via Williams Street). Today, stone blocks from the original aqueduct run along the Empire Trail, near the Rivers Ledge complex (about .5 miles west)., New York State Canal Sytem National Historic Landmark 2016, Thank you to the Schenectady County Historical Society, the Clifton Park History Collection at the Clifton Park Halfmoon Library, the Historical Marker Database and the National Park Service Historic American Engineering Record., (Photo Captions and Illustrations ) , - Boat crossing over the Mohawk River through the Rexford Aqueduct., - Rexford Aqueduct with the Rexford Store on the left., - Where the Erie Canal Croesses the Mohawk River Near Schenectady, N.Y., - Aerial View of the Rexford Aqueduct and the Vischer Ferry lock on the Erie Canal.