Port of Pittsford

Port of Pittsford. . Town and Village of Pittsford , The area that is now Pittsford was settled in 1796 as Northfield. Resident and local war hero colonel Caleb Hopkins renamed the town inn 1814 after his hometown in Vermont. The Village of Pittsford, was incorporated in 1827 and retains much of its historic charm. Throughout the town and the village you’ll find one-of-a-kind shops, fine and casual dining, a range of excellent accommodations and recreation opportunities. , Lock 62 , Lock 62 was in operation until 1918, when the Old Erie Canal was expanded into the Barge Canal and was diverted south of Rochester. Now a Canal Park, remnants of this double chamber lock are still visible. The first chamber was built in 1856 and the second was completed in 1873. , Widewaters , The topography of this area just west of Lock 32 made ideal for the creation of “widewater - an area which allowed canal traffic to turn around. The Wide waters Turning Basin offers a look into the canal’s past - the wooden hulls of abandoned barges are completely visible when the canal is drained in the winter and still partially visible in the summer. , Odenbach Shipyard , In the late 1930s, hulls for tankers were constructed in the old bed of the Erie Canal, just south of French Road. Too big to be used on the Canal, they were floated to New York City for final fitting to be used in the deeper water. During World War II, the complied off of Dewey Avenuuin the Town of Greece to build landing craft for the war effort. , Whitewater Park , Genesee Waterways Center - White Water Park was created from the bed of the Erie Canal spillway at Lock 32. The park, which opened in 2000, provides a unique controlled environment for whitewater and flatwater kayaking. , Pittsford Crew Boathouse and Indoor Rowing Center , Putty crew is headquartered in a fully-equipped boathouse across from Lock 32 and I door Rowing Center. The PIRC is one of the largest indoor rowing facilities in the world and gratis custom made moving water system. The annual Pittsford Crew Regatta draws hundreds of teams to computing the Erie Canal each spring. , Big Springs , Big Springs was a major Seneca Native American village located where Port of Pittsford Park stands today. Named for the large spring and pond fed by an underground stream. Big Spring provided water for the Seneca and attracted game animals necessary for their survival. The spring also attracted the area’s first non-native settler, Israel Stone, who built a log cabin on the site in 1789. Over time, this fertile area evolved into the Village of Pittsford. In 1909 the canal was widened and the Big Spring was incorporated into it, but a small creek was redirected via a culvert along the railroad bed and today feeds several local irrigation ponds. , Cartersville , This area was a port on the old canal route where horse and mule teams were changed. A large basin and boat “turn around” was located here; an offshoot of the canal, it was used for loading and unloading cargo. Once a separate community, Cartersville eventually became part of Pittsford. The settlement also had a distillery and a canalside warehouse for flour, produce and whiskey. The Cartersville trail runs along the Great Embankment to Bushnell’s Basin. , Auburn Railroad / Trail , The Rochester and Auburn Railroad service arrived in Pittsford in 1837. It became a branch of the New York Central Railroad in 1853 and, until other rail lines were established, it served as the primary route between Rochester and New York City. Once the initial economic boom of canal use faded, the railroad provided efficient transportation for Pittsford’s agricultural - related industries and helped sustain the community’s economy. The railroad tracks were removed in the 1980s and most visible signs of the rail line have since disappeared. The bridge abutments over the Canal can still be seen adjacent to the Cartersville Guard Gate. Today, sections of the former railbed are in use as a cross-town multi-use trail. , West Shore Line , New York West Shore and Buffalo Railroad - Pittford’s second rail line opened in 1883z. This line was also soon acquired by the New York Central Railroad. Constructing the line required building a significant embankment through the northern section of the Village. The double - span steel truss canal trestle was constructed from 1911-1912 during the widening of the canal. A freight and passenger terminal was located off Monroe Avenue at the current site of Talbots. Originally the line consisted of a double track. Today this line remains very active averaging 10-20 trains per day. It is part of the CSX network and serves both local freight and as the mainline bypass around the City of Rochester. , Schoen Place and Northfield Commons , Located along the towpath as the canal’s east side, this quaint area includes two locations for strolling, shopping and dining. Each offers a variety of shops and services and a wide range of fine and casual restaurants, many housed in one-of-a-kind historic buildings. Schoen Place (pronounced “shane”) is directly across the canal from the Port of Pittsford Park. Developed just after the canal was completed, its storied history includes flour milling, apple drying, wholesaling of coal, grain and beans. The complex’s oldest building - the Flour Mill - was constructed in 1830 and the large grain tower was built in the 1920s; both buildings now house unique office space. Northfield Common is adjacent to Schoen Place, near the State Street Bridge. Many of its buildings were once part of a large lumberyard. , Clinton’s Ditch , The original route of the Erie Canal ran through Pittsford Village between South Street and what is now Boughton Avenue. After the canal was rerouted to the east around 1850 the land was sold off for building lots. The route is still visible today as a depression that runs through the backyards of the homes in this area. , Cartersville Guard Gate , The guard gate is used as a flood gate to protect the section of the canal to the east including the Great Embankment where the canal crosses an area that is some 70 feet lower. The gate, which is normaopen, has a 15 foot clearance. , The Great Embankment , Built between 1821-1822 to carry the canal across the 70 foot deep, one mile wide Irondequoit Creek Valley, the Great Embankment is one of the most significant engineering feats of the entire Erie Canal. It was hand-built by labor with dirt, debris and logs taken from nearby hills and fields and moved by wheelbarrow or horse and wagon. The Great Embankment canal bed was enlarged in the 1850s and again in the 1900s. To this date, it is still the highest canal embankment in the world. The Irondequoit Creek now runs through a tunnel under the canal. Before the glacial era, this stretch of the creek was the path of the Genesee River.