Erie Canal Discovery

Erie Canal Discovery

FARLEY: The Erie Canal gun telegraph The following communication was first published by the Buffalo Historical Society on April 7, 1863.

June 3, 2008 1 Photo
FARLEY: The ice house on the canal The history of the Erie Canal is filled with information that doesn’t seem to fit into a typical category. One such item was gleaned from the life of Paul Murphy, born in Hartland in 1892.
May 20, 2008
FARLEY: Railroads along the canal — Part 2 By 1860, with passenger travel settled in favor of the railroads, the next course of business lay in the transportation of freight. New York state had a vested interest in protecting its state owned Erie Canal.
May 18, 2008 1 Photo
FARLEY: Railroads — Part 1 Vastly different, yet still very similar, the Erie Canal and the American railroads left their own marks on history. The Erie Canal traces its beginning to 1807 and the writings of Jesse Hawley, who wrote an early description of a canal which would join the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean.
May 6, 2008 1 Photo
FARLEY: The life and times of an Erie Canal cook We have learned much about life on the Erie Canal from one of its best friends, Richard Garrity of the Tonawanda’s. His remembrances of growing up on the canal help us to picture the scene in our minds eye. The following narrative is graciously attributed to Mr. Garrity.

April 29, 2008 1 Photo
FARLEY: Recollections from an early settler The owners of the first log home near what is now the Lockport Locks was acknowledged to be Dr. Isaac Smith and his wife, Edna Deane Smith. The couple operated an infirmary out of their cabin. Anyone who was hurt as a result of work on the Erie Canal would most likely have been taken to the Smith home. Mrs. Smith, a Quaker, affectionately known as Aunt Edna, served as a nurse for her husband.
April 22, 2008 1 Photo
FARLEY: Life on the Erie Canal Life on the Erie Canal represented a culture all its own, a way of existence that included its own vocabulary, its own laws, its own dangers and its own beauty. For some, it was a hard, demanding life. No doubt it was for many of the thousands whose livelihood depended on it during the canal’s peak years. Yet it offered special rewards that people found irresistible. The world of the canal was an escape from the ordinary and had its own special excitement.

April 8, 2008 1 Photo
FARLEY: The story of Edith Kohler — Part 2 The story this week is part two of the personal experiences of Edith Kohler who was born on the Erie Canal and lived to be over 100 years old in Lockport. These remembrances were told to others during the waning years of her life.

March 25, 2008 1 Photo
CANAL DISCOVERY: The experiences of Edith Kohler — part one Many stories are told about the workers who built the Erie Canal. Other stories focus on the men, women and children that lived and worked on the canal. Lockport is fortunate to have a plethora of stories that have been passed down by a grand lady who grew up on a canal boat.
March 18, 2008 1 Photo
CANAL DISCOVERY: Bridges over the canal The history of the Erie Canal contains quite a few stories of men and women who received an “up-close and personal” understanding of the term “low bridge.” Many of the stories pertain to the poor souls who failed to heed a captain’s shout of “down on deck” or “bridge.”
March 5, 2008
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