SH Archive Erie Canal. Who, how, why, when.

[Jd755]

The Erie Canal is a canal in New York, United States that is part of the east–west, cross-state route of the New York State Canal System (formerly known as the New York State Barge Canal). Originally, it ran 363 miles (584 km) from the Hudson River in Albany to Lake Erie in Buffalo. It was built to create a navigable water route from New York City and the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes. When completed in 1825, it was the second longest canal in the world (after the Grand Canal in China) and greatly enhanced the development and economy of New York, New York City, and the United States.

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The canal was first proposed in the 1780s, then re-proposed in 1807. A survey was authorized, funded, and executed in 1808. Proponents of the project gradually wore down opponents; its construction began in 1817. The canal has 34 numbered locks starting with Black Rock Lock and ending downstream with the Troy Federal Lock. Both are owned by the federal government. It has an elevation difference of about 565 feet (172 m). It opened on October 26, 1825.

• Erie Canal - Wikipedia​

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[anotherlayer]

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Username: anotherlayer
Date: 2019-09-27 19:40:16
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A couple of years ago, that YouTube's "Electronic Projects' aka 'Mud Flood' did a wonderful hit piece on the Erie Canal. Of course, it's long gone, so let me give you some FENDAP:

 

[JWW427]

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Username: JWW427
Date: 2019-10-01 18:12:02
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I'm cracking my knuckles for this one.
The videos above are nail-hitters. The Erie Canal has a 100% BS cover story and we all know it. Ask any civil engineer worth their salt if this grand NY canal could have been achieved back in the early 19th century: No way.

And there's more!
In support of alternative theories on the Erie, I think we should look at its little sister canal further south built in the same time period of the "high tech" 1830s. It's supportive evidence given they needed even more of a highly-skilled workforce. The Chesapeake and Ohio canal from Cumberland Maryland to Georgetown, Washington DC, my beloved home. All 186 miles of it with a mule towpath. (Bring your mountain bike).

The headwater start in Cumberland MD:




The C&O canal was 1/3 the length and 1/3 the width (estimated) of its big sister the Erie. It pales in comparison, but looky here at all the fine masonry locks, walls, and aqueducts below. It straddles the Potomac river and goes right by (75 yards away) Star Fort Fredrick in MD. Star forts and canals are like bacon cheeseburgers and chili fries, they go together in a big way, and are integral to one another where they meet. Power production probably. Water purification & ionization. Running water is electromagnetic, but you all knew that.

.

Why so much effort for a dinky canal in comparison to the Erie? Because for the ancient builders it was cherry pie easy. No oxen or mules required.
The C&O canal is romantic, in tune with nature, stunning to behold in places, and well-crafted to the point of obsession. It's the stuff of lucid dreams and opium addict-scribed poems. I believe the original builders planned it that way, just like the Erie. Beauty, nature, and flawless engineering intertwined as one. Balance in all things. Elegance.

The star fort civilization's exact methods of constructing canals is hidden from us currently, but I think eventually we SH members (and others) will figure it out. Free energy must have played a role, I reckon. In any case, the same construction people probably built both canals! After all, how many professional "whiskey-paid Irishmen" stone cutters and amateur-grade civil engineers were there to go around in 1830? Why do the PTB always pick on us Irish?


I posted another thread just on this amazing tunnel.
C&O Paw Paw Tunnel:



C&O aqueducts:



C&O canal:

 

[Archive]

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Username: Bear Claw
Date: 2020-02-17 12:56:20
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I came across a good 'strange architectural story' at the weekend. The Erie Canal according to Wikipedia, was constructed by:

• The men who planned and oversaw construction were novices as surveyors and as engineers. There were no civil engineers in the United States. James Geddes and Benjamin Wright, who laid out the route, were judges whose experience in surveying was in settling boundary disputes. Geddes had only used a surveying instrument for a few hours before his work on the Canal. Canvass White was a 27-year-old amateur engineer who persuaded Clinton to let him go to Britain at his own expense to study the canal system there. Nathan Roberts was a mathematics teacher and land speculator. Yet these men "carried the Erie Canal up the Niagara escarpment at Lockport, maneuvered it onto a towering embankment to cross over Irondequoit Creek, spanned the Genesee River on an awesome aqueduct, and carved a route for it out of the solid rock between Little Falls and Schenectady - and all of those venturesome designs worked precisely as planned.

Rather suggests that the Erie Canal was perhaps in existence already. There are other strange stories to do with its creation, like 1,000 dying of disease during construction in the Montezuma Swamp. The lead architects appear to be Judges/Politicians/settlers of towns.

I have bolded the bits that push credibility of the paragraph. I did enjoy the "awesome aqueduct" line however.

 

[KD Archive]

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Username: KorbenDallas
Date: 2020-02-18 22:51:27
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The men who planned and oversaw construction were novices as surveyors and as engineers. There were no civil engineers in the United States. James Geddes and Benjamin Wright, who laid out the route, were judges whose experience in surveying was in settling boundary disputes. Geddes had only used a surveying instrument for a few hours before his work on the Canal. Canvass White was a 27-year-old amateur engineer who persuaded Clinton to let him go to Britain at his own expense to study the canal system there. Nathan Roberts was a mathematics teacher and land speculator. Yet these men "carried the Erie Canal up the Niagara escarpment at Lockport, maneuvered it onto a towering embankment to cross over Irondequoit Creek, spanned the Genesee River on an awesome aqueduct, and carved a route for it out of the solid rock between Little Falls and Schenectady - and all of those venturesome designs worked precisely as planned.

This is brilliant. When people do not question stuff like that, they get what they have... rightfully so.

Thank you for pointing this out.

 

[Archive]

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Username: Recognition
Date: 2020-02-19 01:31:04
Reaction Score: 6

This is brilliant. When people do not question stuff like that, they get what they have... rightfully so.

Thank you for pointing this out.

@Bear Claw Canvass White is a pretty ridiculous name. Why not Blottingout History?

 

[irishbalt]

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Username: irishbalt
Date: 2020-02-19 03:48:55
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Track with me here, we have evidence of a world wide confederacy through the research here at SH. What if those events from The Book of Enoch through the Flood of Noah were much more recent, say 4000-7000 years ago. What if the time after the flood to the world wide confederacy was only 1000-4000 years ago? All of history has been obfuscated, nailing down just "when we are" now is difficult. My childhood memories and the world then feel like I have lived over 100 years because the present world is unrecognizable to the former, I imagine the end of an age often sets up like this,

 

[Archive]

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Username: Bear Claw
Date: 2020-02-19 12:56:07
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@Bear Claw Canvass White is a pretty ridiculous name. Why not Blottingout History?

Damn. Good spot. He has such a short wiki stub considering according to the great architectural historian Bill Bryson, suggests "the great unsung Canvass White didn't just make New York rich; more profoundly, he helped make America"

Also - all his works cited on wikipedia seem to have made the National Register of Historic Places. Best engineer ever?

Presumably the National Register is a good starting point for a substantial list of questionable architecture? Apparently as of 1999 there had been 982 buildings removed from the National Register - mainly due to being destroyed.

Another thought on Canvass White, who seemingly introduced national cement to the US. Surely the history of cement is worth exploring. I am no expert on cement, but the fact that the Romans used it for architecture (and concrete) then we don't hear from cement or concrete again (in the US), until Canvass White, is patenting it and introducing it for the Erie Canal strikes me as weird.

 

[Jd755]

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Username: jd755
Date: 2020-02-19 17:17:13
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History of the Canal System of the State of New York
Together with Brief Histories of the Canals of the United States and Canada
by Nobel E. Whitford
1906

http://www.history.rochester.edu/canal/bib/whitford/old1906/

 

[KD Archive]

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Username: KorbenDallas
Date: 2020-02-26 19:30:57
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Figured these would be a nice addition to this thread.

William Coventry Wall, New York and the Erie Canal, 1862. Oil on canvas.


Risso & Browne, Erie Canal, 1832.


S. Georges, Erie Canal, 1856. Oil on canvas.


William Rickarby Miller, The Mohawk Valley at Little Falls, 1888. Oil on canvas.

 

[freemaster]

A couple of years ago, that YouTube's "Electronic Projects' aka 'Mud Flood' did a wonderful hit piece on the Erie Canal. Of course, it's long gone, so let me give you some FENDAP:

I live in NY state and have just fallen into the Erie canal mystery. Would love to see this videos that have been taken down. If anyone knows of where they might still exist or any others I would be greatful!

 

[Mabzynn]

Here's a source published in 1766 that discusses a canal between the Great Lakes. (Erie and Huron)

The Universal Dictionary of Trade and Commerce - Volume 1
Malachy Postlethwayt - 1766​

SOURCE​

 

[freemaster]

These photos are of the D and H canal aqueduct over the neversink river near Port Jervis Ny. The D and H linked up to the eerie canal and connected the Delaware and Hudson rivers.
It was a special find for me as I am new to “stolen history” and this to me looks like a great example of mysterious prowess of early mason. You can see a couple layers of work with the oldest and deepest the most square and neat with impeccably revealed and sloped corners.
it just blows my mind that there was an infrastructure, a knowledge of the land elevations, a work force, engineering and technology that could get this done with such a high level of craftsmanship. (Jeez, currently,they are trying to build a 4 story hotel in PJ now that has taken three years and theyre still below grade and the concrete is a mess.)
Either the folks who made this according the established narrative are the Michael Jordan’s of masonry, or there is indeed some lost and stolen history here.
I am new to the mysteries here so any comments or guidance so much appreciated!
peace!
Also included in the set of photos are what look like anchoring piers worn smooth by ropes. The portion not worn smooth is buried vertically underground about 6/7 feet. Bomber.

 

[Tomkat]

View attachment 23742​

These photos are of the D and H canal aqueduct over the neversink river near Port Jervis Ny. The D and H linked up to the eerie canal and connected the Delaware and Hudson rivers.
It was a special find for me as I am new to “stolen history” and this to me looks like a great example of mysterious prowess of early mason. You can see a couple layers of work with the oldest and deepest the most square and neat with impeccably revealed and sloped corners.
it just blows my mind that there was an infrastructure, a knowledge of the land elevations, a work force, engineering and technology that could get this done with such a high level of craftsmanship. (Jeez, currently,they are trying to build a 4 story hotel in PJ now that has taken three years and theyre still below grade and the concrete is a mess.)
Either the folks who made this according the established narrative are the Michael Jordan’s of masonry, or there is indeed some lost and stolen history here.
I am new to the mysteries here so any comments or guidance so much appreciated!
peace!
Also included in the set of photos are what look like anchoring piers worn smooth by ropes. The portion not worn smooth is buried vertically underground about 6/7 feet. Bomber.

I love this thread, thanks Jd755. I'm from joisey, and a lot of these pics taste just like home. I wonder if any of those unqualified surveyors ever realized there is no measurable curve to our fine planet. Love this stuff! Ancient architecture that we use every day. Who knows, maybe we love these things not just because they are beautiful and harmonious, but because we remember them...

 

[Tomkat]

I just saw this, from a place called Berwick Upon Tweed, UK. Looks like a roman aqueduct? As for the Erie canal, I've heard many assertions that it is an example of advanced engineering from a previous civilization. I've never specifically heard this about aqueducts and wondered if they are also seen this way?

ps I think it's an aqueduct.....I'm gonna try to fact check that....aqueducts have bike lanes right?


Ok, my bad, it's a road....

File:60163 Tornado 7 March 2009 Berwick.jpg - Wikipedia

Sorry bout that...on the plus side, it's now on my list of places to visit...