Research

Scope and Content Note

These records were created by the Department of Public Works, chiefly by and for the resident engineers and section superintendent of Section 3 of the Barge Canal. They document the construction, maintenance, and expansion of this canal section from about 1909 into the 1950s. Section 3, until it was recently abolished, covered the length of the Erie Barge Canal between Lock 10 (Cranesville) and Lock 16 (Mindenville). These records were generated at the Amsterdam terminal offices and were probably moved to the section headquarters in Fonda when it was completed in the late 1950s. As a series, these records show the daily progress and procedures in the various stages of construction of this sectin of the canal. They also reveal the working relationships of state government and private contractors. Also of interest is documentation of the federally funded Oswego-Waterford enlargement program which was carried out in the 1930s-1950s.

These records include: diaries of resident engineers and section superintendents (1909-1957); correspondence, chiefly to and from resident engineers and contractors; inspectors' reports; timebooks; original construction contracts; terminal contracts; ledgers of construction material estimates; ledgers of office inventories; lock gage ledgers; payroll ledgers; and payroll records.