The Erie Canal’s laborers and ditch diggers, and the history of its existence

Two hundred years ago, a group of young men — mostly Irish and German — volunteered to dig a ditch deep enough, wide enough, and long enough to carry boats across New York State. A day’s pay was 50 cents and a pint of whiskey. Accompanied by a few mules and horses, they worked with picks and shovels from dawn until dusk. At the completion of large or special projects, they shared a full barrel of whiskey!

For 75 cents per day, laborers could volunteer to strike dynamite, scale and remove dangerous rock formations, and work in hip-deep swamps infested with snapping turtles, poisonous snakes, and mosquitoes.

High-wage earners did not receive free daily pints of whiskey. All laborers were fined one half of the daily wage for broken equipment, cruelty to animals, stealing, fighting, and sleeping on the job.

On July 4, 1817, at Fort Bull in Rome, Oneida County, ground was broken for the first Erie Canal. It was the beginning of what would eventually be called “The Nation’s First Super Highway.”

The First Erie Canal, also referred to as “Clinton’s Ditch,” “Clinton’s Folly,” or the “D” canal, was a “contour” canal, meaning it followed the path of least resistance around drumlins, swamps, streams, rivers and rocks. The ditch, extending 363 miles from the Hudson River to Buffalo, was four feet deep.

The bottom width was 40 feet. There were 18 aqueducts and 83 locks, each 90 feet long and 15 feet wide. Ditch digging averaged approximately three miles per month!

In Wayne County, there were 10 locks. The rise or lift in the locks of the first canal varied from five feet at Lock D 64 in Clyde to 10 feet at Lock D 72 in Macedonville (Macedon). From Meadeville (Lock Pit/Pit Lock) to Macedonville (Macedon), the locks provided a cross-county lift of 81 feet.

Although not yet completed across the state, the first canal was in usage in Wayne County by 1822. The canal was completed statewide and officially opened Oct.

25, 1825. In celebration, the boat Seneca Chief, with Gov. DeWitt Clinton aboard, led a flotilla from Buffalo to the Hudson.

The First Erie Canal was super successful and focused on villages, their products, and their people. Streets were named “Water Street,” “Canal Street,” and “Dock Street.” Canal locks became the entertainment center of the canal villages. There you saw up close “them people from far away — how they ate, how they dressed, how they sang songs, and how they silly talked.”

Canal lockage sometimes took several hours. Near the locks were stores and always one or more taverns. It was the perfect meeting place for hoggees (towpath drivers), boaters, local brawn, and tavern owners. Wait long enough and you would see a good brawl. It was not unusual in early morning to find someone dead in a lock.

In fact, the climate near the locks in one community, Lyons, was so fierce that the area was named Battle Square!

In some communities, families provided room and board for the laborers. This was especially true if the canal was being routed through or near a family farm. Many of the laborers did not speak English. Supposedly, children in the family taught the laborers inappropriate words and phrases. Some of the canal laborers eventually settled along the canal with their families. In fact, 26 original canal laborers are buried in the Canal Laborer Cemetery on Wayneport Road in the Wayne County town of Macedon.

Bigger and better

The Second Erie Canal, begun in 1836, is referred to as the “Enlarged,” the “Improved,” or the “D” Canal. The original ditch was enlarged from four feet to seven feet in depth and from 40 to 70 feet in width. The second canal frequently used the original ditch; however, the “contour,” or meandering ditch sections, were eliminated whenever possible. Instead of contouring around a hilly field, the canal went through the field.

“Low bridges” providing access to the severed acreage appeared everywhere! Single locks were lengthened and converted to double locks, thus providing boat passage in opposite directions.

¦ See ERIE Page 2D

The Historic Tug Urger and Historic Tug Seneca exiting Lock 27 in Lyons in October 2014.

Courtesy of Robert “Bob” Stopper

The Palmyra Aqueduct crossing Ganargua Creek (Mud Creek). Last used in 1917, it became part of the Erie Canal/Empire bike trail. No longer safe, the trail now is rerouted.

Courtesy of Robert “Bob” Stopper

This February 2023 photo shows the double-chambered Lock E 56 and “Poorhouse Store” just west of Lyons from the era of the second canal, the “Enlarged Erie.” Last used in the 1917 boating season, the lock’s northern chamber is enlarged and features mitre and tumble gates. Its walls and center island, including steps, are in excellent condition. The former “Poorhouse Store” is a private residence.

Courtesy of Robert “Bob” Stopper

By ROBERT ‘BOB’ STOPPER

Travel and transportation times between ports and communities were reduced; unfortunately, in Wayne County, many “first canal” communities, such as Lock Berlin and Pilgrimport, were bypassed in the process.

Statewide, there were 32 aqueducts and 72 locks. In Wayne County, there were 10 locks. Countywise, the locks provided a lift of 62 feet.

The Second Erie Canal, completed statewide in 1864 with a distance of 350 miles, was very successful. But times were changing. Loaded barges were bottoming out. Wide barges were grounding in unexpected places. There was talk about a railroad and something called the St. Lawrence Seaway.

Construction methods and tools were becoming mechanized. Steam-powered boats and dredging equipment now replaced the pick, shovel, mule and horse. Steam power and “modern machinery” could go almost anywhere and do almost anything. Towpaths and hoggees were no longer needed. A newer, bigger, better canal was needed. The Second, or “Enlarged Erie,” canal was last used in the 1917 boating season.

The Third Erie Canal, also referred to as the “Barge” Canal, the “Canalized” Canal, or the “B” Canal, began in 1905. “Canalized” became the buzzword! Suddenly rivers, streams, swamps, rock ledges and even fields were being converted — sometimes by eminent domain — to canal routes. The Clyde River was “canalized” and rerouted from its meandering wilderness through swampy land into a more direct line to Lyons, where it joined the Canandaigua Outlet and the Ganargua (Mud) Creek. It was then renamed the Barge Canal! Because of rerouting, Port Gibson, a stalwart Ontario County canal community on the first two canals, was entirely bypassed by the Barge Canal.

The Barge Canal officially opened April 10, 1918. Approximately 340 miles in length, the canal is 12 feet deep and 120 feet wide, quite a change from the First Erie Canal dimensions of four feet deep and 40 feet wide.

Although originally opened and built for big barge traffic, today’s “barge” canal (2025) is mostly used by recreational traffic. Gone are the days of watching huge barges “locking through,” laden with grain, oil, stone, and wood products. Private boats, tour boats, fishing boats, solar boats, rental boats, pontoon boats, kayaks, canoes, and standup paddleboards can frequently be seen on the canal waters of today.

The “Barge” canal was officially designated as a National Historic Landmark in 2016.

Canalside communities in Wayne County include Clyde, Lyons, Newark, Palmyra and Macedon — 35 miles of canal places, characters, and famous events, and 200 years of local canal history! Why not participate and share your canal story during the 2025 NYS Erie Canal Bicentennial? Your neighbors, the world and even the crew of the replica Seneca Chief will be watching and listening.

Robert “Bob” Stopper is a Lyons Erie Canalway greeter and Erie Canal ambassador. Frequently referred to as “Mr. Erie,” he is also a writer, speaker and photographer of canalway activities and an avid boater and fisherman. Now retired, Stopper taught English and public speaking for 34 years at Newark High School.

A Sunday morning sunrise at Lock 27 in Lyons in October 2024. The Canandaigua Outlet is entering the Clyde River and joining waters from Lock 27, forming the Barge Canal. Note the contrast between the 100-year-old lock gates and “modern technology” gauges following flow and height of the outlet as it approaches the lock.

Courtesy of Robert “Bob” Stopper

The historic 1929 steam-driven Dipper Dredge 3 is listed on the National Historic Register.

Courtesy of Robert “Bob” Stopper