One of the largest remains of our village past can be found
south of Port Byron, running up the valley of the Owasco Outlet. It is the old
Beach Millrace, a two mile long power canal that carried water from Hayden to the
village. Built in 1830 by John Beach, it started at Parks Dam just south Hayden
Road, and followed the west bank of the Outlet until it reached a point
opposite where St John’s
Church is today. The mill
wheel it powered was 20 feet in diameter and it was all part of a four story
stone mill built by a group of men from Auburn
and Rochester.
The mill was built to use the old Erie Canal
to bring in grain and ship out barrels of flour.
The mill, once called the largest in the State was quickly
surpassed by mills in Rochester that used the
much larger Genesee
River to power their
wheels and machinery. By 1857, the mill was gone, burned, perhaps in response
to the moving of the Erie Canal in the
village. But the millrace lived on.
Canals are artificial rivers, and rely on natural sources of
water in order to fill and replenish the water needed to float the boats. From Jordan to Montezuma, a fairly short section of
canal, the water came from Skaneateles Lake through a feeder that joined the
canal to the Skaneateles Outlet at Jordan. There were a couple other
smaller feeders; one at Putnam Brook in Weedpsort, one at Centerport, and
another at Herring Brook, just east of Port Byron. But these were very small
and limited in quantities, proving water measured in hundreds of cubic feet,
where larger feeders provided thousands of cubic feet. So the canal relied on Skaneateles Lake to fill and operate sixteen miles of
canal. And when they turned on the canal tap, the water in the creek dried up
and the mills went quiet.
The lake was able to keep up with the first small canal, but
with the canal enlargement that took place from 1836 to 1862, the canal was
doubled in size and now two locks did the work of one. Skaneateles
Lake was in trouble.
There was another source of canal water. That would be the Owasco Lake
and the Owasco Outlet that flowed under the canal at Port Byron. But with the
Beach’s large mill and other mills along the Outlet, the State did not take the
water. Why they didn’t take the water is a question, and why the water could
not be turned into the canal once it passed over Beach’s wheel is not known or
ever discussed. In 1863, the Rochester
paper reported that the “extravagant demands” of the mill owners kept the State
from taking the water. In 1866 the Skaneateles Democrat asserted that the State
was playing favorites. Their lake was drained, the mills were silent, and the
people unemployed. Meanwhile in Port Byron, the mills had water. It had been
nine years since the old mill had burned, and although smaller mills were still
in business along the Owasco Outlet, the water flowed under the canal instead
of into it.
However, 1866 was the turning point. With Skaneateles
Lake drained, the State had no choice but to tap into the Owasco
flow. Since the canal was higher than the creek in Port Byron, the old mill
race was looked at and ultimately used. From its ending spot up on the hill, a
wooden flume was constructed that carried water overhead to a spot in the canal
near River Street.
By 1871, the flume was leaking badly. The State engineers
asked to have money to replace the old wood structure. A iron pipe was
suggested, one that could be buried underground and be somewhat protected from
the elements. Pleas for money went on for a couple years and in 1875 the State
finally gave money. In October of 1875, the Auburn paper reported that teams
were busy drawing stone from Auburn
to the new feeder. By 1876, the new feeder was in use and this color map was
drawn to show the work.
More work was done over the years. The mill race was
enlarged and a new gate house was added at Hayden. I wrote a piece about the
dam at Hayden and you can find it here.
Because the old mill race was used until 1918, it's remains
are still fairly intact and it is the largest structure left from our history.
However, over the years, I have watched the old iron pipe fade away. It is getting really hard to see these days.
You can walk along parts of the old race, as I did a couple years back when I took these
photos.
Hard to believe but there was once a four story stone mill located here.
This is a end of the race and the beginning of the iron pipe. You can see the old school in the back ground of the wide angle view.
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