New York State Engineer and Surveyor Middle and Western Division Survey Maps for the Proposed 1895 Erie Canal Enlargement
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Overview of the Records
Repository:
New York State Archives
New York State Education Department
Cultural Education Center
Albany, NY 12230
Summary:
These survey maps for proposed canal improvements of Erie, Champlain, and Oswego canals are particularly valuable for their
representation of state-owned land. Maps show measurements of canal length; town, city, and county lines; name of some land
owners, or parcel numbers, of property adjacent to the canal; buildings along the canal rout; and parapets, aqueducts, and
other related structures.
Creator:
Title:
Middle and Western Division survey maps for the proposed 1895 Erie Canal enlargement
Quantity:
Inclusive Dates:
1895-1900
Series Number:
B1210
Arrangement
Arranged by name of canal and therein geographically.
Scope and Content Note
The series contains survey maps of the Middle and Western divisions of the Erie Canal (including the Oswego Canal and the
Cayuga and Seneca Canal) for the proposed "Nine Million Dollar" canal improvement of 1895. Chapter 79 of the Laws of the 1895
proposed the enlargement and improvement of the Erie, Champlain, and Oswego canals; its provisions were ratified by voters
in the general election of November 1895.
Work on the canals entailed deepening them (by raising the banks whenever practicable), lengthening or improving locks, and
providing machinery for drawing boats into the improved locks and for building vertical stone walls where necessary. All work
was to be done in accordance with plans, specifications, and estimates prepared by the State Engineer and Surveyor. In January
1896 work on the surveys for the canal improvements was begun, and these maps are apparently the results of those surveys.
Survey maps formed the basis for many subsequent maps. In particular these maps were made in order to give the most accurate
representation of state owned land. This was important in light of the land appropriation needs and the damage that would
naturally be expected during canal improvement and repair. Consequently the maps would be updated over time, as is apparent
in this series, and the best available measurements were needed.
The maps are hand drawn and the colored lines that are used conform to standard canal surveying practice. The red line designates
the inner line of the towpath, upon which all the measurements in the direction of the length of the canal were made. On some
maps separate small drawings show ties to red line offsets at specific points. These are configured or triangulated to nails
placed in telephone poles or elm trees. The space enclosed by blue lines represents the portion of land belonging to the state.
Dotted blue lines represent the historic alignment of the old canal; solid black lines represent the new canal alignment.
Measurements are especially detailed at points of land curvature, and therefore they are more closely clustered on the curves
of the canal than on the straightaways.
Information ancillary to the measurements is minimal, but generally includes: town, county, and city lines; name of some owners
of property adjacent to the canal, or sometimes parcel numbers; outlines of some buildings along the route, shaded in various
colors and sometimes accompanied by the name of a specific company or owner; natural bodies of water or canal feeders that
cross the canal; locks, parapets, aqueducts and other related structures; sometimes annotations designating land appropriations
that occurred after the maps were produced, including the name of land owner, appropriation number, and date (usually ca.
1900); and sometimes field book numbers, apparently referring to other surveys.
Maps cover the Middle (28 rolls) and Western (11 rolls) divisions of the Erie Canal, with the Oswego and Cayuga-Seneca canals
considered a part of the Middle Division. Most maps are identified on the back edge of the roll, usually as "blue line" maps
of a particular canal and/or section. The area covered by the maps is also usually given here, as is the scale, which varies.
The most common scales are one inch equal to 40 feet, or one inch equal to 100 feet. Unfortunately, dirt and age have considerably
obscured this handwritten information and none, except for directional symbols, appears on the face of the maps. Some of the
information was apparently added at a later date, probably to aid identification. Most maps are drawn in ink, although a few
are sketched in pencil and appear to be preliminary in nature. Annotations present evidence that these maps were updated beyond
the time of their immediate creation, up to 1900.
Related Material
14068 Erie and Champlain Topographical Maps, includes Eastern Division surveys not found in this series.
Other Finding Aids
Available at Repository
Container list is available at the repository.
Access Restrictions
Restricted due to fragile condition: use only with assistance of State Archives staff.
Access Terms
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Detailed Description
Dates |
Contents |
Roll |
Accretion: B1210-85 |
1895-1901 |
Erie Canal, Middle Division - Blue Line, West Genesse to Willis Ave., Study 40' scale, (See Box 20) |
1 |
1895-1901 |
Erie Canal, Middle Division - Blue line through Syracuse, unfinished, 100' scale |
2 |
1895-1901 |
Erie Canal, Middle Division - Blue line through Syracuse, "Olcott's Map" |
3 |
1895-1901 |
Erie Canal, Middle Division - Location Map for Cleaning Ditches on Superintendent's Section # 5 |
4 |
1895-1901 |
Erie Canal, Middle Division - Butternut Creek Blue Line |
5 |
1895 |
Erie Canal, Middle Division - Blue Line, Willis Ave. to Lock 50 (Syracuse) circa 1895, 40' scale |
6 |
1895-1901 |
Erie Canal, Middle Division - Blue Line, Two Sections: 1) Wayne County Line to Centerport Road Bridge, 100' scale, 2) DeWitt-Manlius
Line to Syracuse
|
7 |
1895-1901 |
Erie Canal, Middle Division - Cayuga to Demonts Bridge, Cayuga-Seneca Blue Line Sheet 3, 100' scale |
8 |
1895-1901 |
Erie Canal, Middle Division - Blue Line, Solvay - Lock 50, unfinished, 100' scale |
9 |
1895-1901 |
Erie Canal, Middle Division - Two Sections: 1) Memphis to Centerport, 100' scale, 2) Madison-Onondaga Co. Line to Burdick's
Bridge
|
10 |
1895-1901 |
Erie Canal, Middle Division - (#5) Float Bridge between Long [?] Seneca River - this end of [?]...Delaware Bridge |
11 |
1895-1901 |
Erie Canal, Middle Division - (#8) Syracuse Terminal: Right of Way, Brine Pipe Line, Pole Line, Lot Line, Salt Wells |
12 |
1895-1901 |
Erie Canal, Middle Division - Blue Line, Lock 50 to Camillus, unfinished, 100' Scale |
13 |
1895 |
Oswego Canal, Middle Division - Resurvey circa1895 |
14 |
1895-1901 |
Oswego Canal, Middle Division - Blue Line, North & Side Cut Oswego Canal Syracuse, 100' scale |
15 |
1895-1901 |
Oswego Canal, Middle Division - Blue Line, From 3 Rivers to Mud Lock |
16 |
1895-1901 |
Oswego Canal, Middle Division - Canal from Old Guard Lock #3, North (B-1) |
17 |
1895-1901 |
Oswego Canal, Middle Division - Blue Line, (#5) Syracuse to City Line, City Line to Mud Lock (Not Used), 100' scale |
18 |
1895-1901 |
Oswego Canal, Middle Division - Two Sections: 1) Oswego Canal Survey, 1895-1896, 2) Oswego Canal, Section 2 - Phoenix to Oswego,
c.1895 (See Box 22)
|
19 |
1895-1901 |
Erie Canal, Middle Division - Blue Line Study, Willis Ave., 40' scale (See Box 1) |
20 |
1895-1901 |
Cayuga-Seneca, Middle Division - Blue Line, Montezuma (6) to Cayuga [sheet 2] 100' scale |
21 |
1895-1901 |
Oswego Canal, Middle Division - Blue Line, Fulton-Phoenix (B-1), 1" = 100' Scale (See Box 19) |
22 |
1895-1901 |
Cayuga-Seneca, Middle Division - Blue Line, Village of Waterloo |
23 |
1895-1901 |
Cayuga-Seneca, Middle Division - Town of Fayette to Geneva, 100' scale |
24 |
1895-1901 |
Cayuga-Seneca, Middle Division - Blue Line, Montezuma to Cayuga, [sheet 1] 100' scale |
25 |
1895-1901 |
Erie Canal, Western Division - Hartland Survey (Old), 18 Mile Creek, #106 |
26 |
1895-1901 |
Erie Canal, Western Division - Section 13, Lock #56 to Bridge #1 |
27 |
1895-1901 |
Erie Canal, Western Division - Section 14, Lock #56 to Macedon Lock #61 |
28 |
1895-1901 |
Erie Canal, Western Division - Section 15, Macedon near Bridge #40 to Lock #62 near Rochester |
29 |
1895-1901 |
Erie Canal, Western Division - Section 16, Rowe Street Bridge to Lock #62 |
30 |
1895-1901 |
Erie Canal, Western Division - Section 17, Rowe Street Bridge to Cooley Basin Bridge |
31 |
1895-1901 |
Erie Canal, Western Division - Section 18, Contract #11 |
32 |
1895-1901 |
Erie Canal, Western Division - Section 18, Contract #10-11, Cooley Basin to Bridge #125 |
33 |
1895-1901 |
Erie Canal, Western Division - Section 19, Bridge #142 - #125 |
34 |
1895-1901 |
Erie Canal, Western Division - Section 20, Cady's Bridge # 160 to Shelby Basin Bridge #142 |
35 |
1895-1901 |
Erie Canal, Western Division - Section 21, Prospect Street Bridge #164½ to Bush Bridge #175 |
36 |