Enlarged Lock 52 From Maiden Lane

Back in the days before the Thruway was constructed, Maiden Lane use to leave the village and continue out into the muck lands. Now of course, Maiden Lane is a dead end, replaced by Maiden Lane Road. Both these views were taken from Maiden Lane, offering a panoramic view of the west end of the village and the area around Enlarged Lock 52.

The top view looks east along the road to the Erie House, showing the hotel as it was first built. Behind the hotel, we can see the mule barn and the back half of the blacksmith shop. To the right of the hotel, we see the smallwhite ice house. Although you can't see the canal, the dark building to the right of the ice house is part of Tanner's Drydock, which was on the south bank of the canal.

As you move from left to right, you can see the embankment of the canal. Directly in the center right of the photo, you can see parts of Lock 52, which is the western end of a level that extended from here back to Lock 51 in Jordan. To the west, the canal will pass through Montezuma, cross the Seneca River by way of the Montezuma Aqueduct, pass over the Cayuga Marshes and end at Lock 53 in Clyde.

The buildings around the lock fill much of the photo. Directly in the center of the photo, the building that looks like it is up on blocks is thought to become part of the Erie House. The building today is in the shape of an "L", and this building looks a lot like the new wing. Just to the right of that building, we can see the lock tenders shack, which sits on the island between the two chambers. And to the right of that, we see Kern's Grocery Store.

To the right of the buildings, we see the stone steps and the wooden deck that was part of the late 1800's lengthening of the lock. We are also offered a rare view of the houses up on the hillside to the west of the village.

The second photo extends the view to the west. It does appear that the one small building up on blocks is a house as there is a outhouse near by. The other structures look like barns.

Lock 52 in the Winter

Here is a view of Enlarged Erie Canal Lock 52, which was taken on a winters day when the canal. Compare this to the other photo of Lock 52.

The wooden platform that the people are standing on was a strainer to keep floating debris out of the turbine / overflow culvert that ran down the length of the lock. It also served as a bumper of sorts, helping to guide boats into the chambers. Today all we see are the three large openings that the water flowed into, as all the wood is gone.

We can date this photo to the early 1900's as the lock had gone through the late 1800's 9 million deepening process. We can see this be looking at the top course of stone. The lock was deepened to 8 feet to help increase the amount of draft available to the boaters. The large, newer stone shows this work.

Of course you know that the failure of the 9 million project lead to the construction of the barge canal, right? 

More of Lock 52

Enlarged Lock 52 replaced the older Clinton's Ditch Lock 60, which was located just to the left of this photo. Here we are standing on the bank that separated Tanner's Drydock from the canal. Just behind would be the entrance to the drydock works.Across the canal you would find the Erie House.

There is a lot going on here, with a lot of people standing about. See if you can find them all.

Lock 52 on the Erie Canal

The Lock 52 Historical Society takes its name from Lock 52 on the Erie Canal. I think Lock 52 is the only old canal lock you can see from the NYS Thruway, and many people see it, albeit very quickly, as they zoom by on the highway.

The top photo was taken around 1935, when the canal had been closed for 18 years. Don Gallagher wrote that the photographer was Cliff McComber, but little else. You can see that someone had been picking away at the stones. The skeleton of the lock gate was still there, but the wooden deck and lock tenders house was gone. The bottom photo was taken around 1900, with the lock in its full glory.

Other Lock 52 photos to come.

Guidone's Hill in 1951

It is 1951 and the State is building the New York State Thruway. Lock 52 of the old Enlarged Erie Canal sits off in the weeds as the excavator eats away at Guidone's Hill.