Discovery: Gem in the Rough - Lock 33 Park
September 12, 2002, 60, Sunny
We discovered a gem in the rough today.
This recently-uncovered double Erie Canal Lock is the centerpiece
of a riverside park near St. Johnsville.
During my search for information on places to explore
in the Mohawk Valley, Joyce Berry has frequently pointed me in the right
direction. When she suggested it would be worth my while to visit the recently
discovered Old Erie Canal Lock near St. Johnsville, I made a special effort
to comply.
From
Route 5 in St. Johnsville, we drove south across the river, turned east
(left) at the Erie Canal Sign, and followed a recently-graded gravel road
to a clearing near the river that featured a dock, picnic table . . . and
two 19th century stone-block locks that looked like they were just unwrapped.
Considering they were built around 1840 as part
of the enlargement of the Old Erie Canal, abandoned around 1915 when the
Barge Canal was built, and rediscovered and uncovered in 1999, they were
just unwrapped. Thanks to the efforts of local canal enthusiasts,
Lock 33 has not only been cleared of trees and trash, the area near the
lock is being developed into a riverside park.
We also walked down a short ramp to a small dock in the Mohawk River, noting a huge cottonwood and riverside willows. The water around the dock was clean and clear. I should have brought my fishing rod.
Before
we left a man drove up in a Jeep. A stroke of luck. When I asked
if he knew anything about the locks, I learned he was one of the individuals
who was working on the project to turn the lock area into a park. His name
was Ernie Gee and he explained how they had cut trees and other vegetation
from the lock, and hauled loads of trash away. From the lock closest to
the road, they had removed 125 tires. This past year he planted wildflowers
on the grassy area between the locks and visitors had come from miles around
to see them and to gather seeds.
Ernie gave most of the credit to discovering and
uncovering the locks to Terry Potoczny. He also noted that the NYS Canal
Authority was now in the process of improving the road and developing the
area into a park. Right now there is only one dilapidated picnic table
(the other was stolen) but in the near future more picnic tables---cement
based---and charcoal grills will be installed.
For more information about Lock 33 see: http://www.stjohnsville.com/Lock33.htm.
Follow the path of this discovery trip by clicking on Mohawk Valley Maps: by Maptech.
Type St. Johnsville select New York, press GO!
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