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New York State Canal Commissioners Canal System Survey Maps


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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 of the canal system in New York State fulfilled a law requiring a complete map and field notes of every canal in the state. The maps show: survey stations for measuring length of the canal; courses and distances (linked by red lines); canal right-of-way (blue line); locks; aqueducts; basins; other hydraulic structures; bridges; mill races; buildings; streams, ponds, and lakes; steep grades; and adjacent county, town, and property lines.
Creator:
Title:
Canal Commissioners canal system survey maps
Quantity:

21.5 cubic feet

31 volumes; 25 unbound maps; 4 microfilm rolls 35mm

Inclusive Dates:
1832-1843
Series Number:
A0848

Scope and Content Note

Bound folio volumes contain ink, wash and charcoal maps of the canal system in New York State.

The maps show: survey stations for measuring length of the canal; courses and distances (linked by red lines); canal right-of-way (blue line); locks; aqueducts; basins; other hydraulic structures; bridges; mill races; buildings; streams, ponds, and lakes; steep grades; and adjacent county, town, and property lines. The scale is not given.

Volumes include maps for: Erie Canal, 1834; Chemung Canal and Feeder, 1843; Crooked Lake Canal and Cayuga and Seneca Canal, 1834; Cayuga and Seneca Canal, n.d.; Chenango Canal, 1838; Seneca River Improvement, 1840; Champlain Canal, 1830; and Genesee Valley Canal, 1841, 1850, n.d. There is also a single volume of maps and several unbound maps depicting portions of the canal in Wayne County in accretion A0848-06.

These surveys were made pursuant to legislation of 1827 requiring a complete manuscript map and field notes of every canal to be completed.

A0848-17: This accretion consists of the following volumes duplicated from the original series: "Erie Canal No. 7. Jordan to Kirkville," (with pencil annotations of abandonments as late as 1985); "Erie Canal No. 8. Kirkville to Rome,"; "Cayuga & Seneca Canals Survey," with attached certification and signatures by the Canal Board, pages 1-34, surveys the existing route from Geneva to Montezuma; and "Oswego Canal in Onondaga County from Syracuse to Three River Point."

Alternate Formats Available

Microfilm is available for use at the New York State Archives or through interlibrary loan.

Photostatic copy of Volume 7 available in series B0379, Maps, Plans, Details and Drawings of Structures and Locations for Work on the Erie, Genesee Valley, Chemung, and Oswego Canals, Volume 25.

Color slides of original maps of the Chenango Canal (vols 1 and 2) available in series B1520, Images of Chenango Canal Survey Maps.

Items Online

Most maps in this series have been digitized and are available in State Archives Digital Collections.

New York State Archives Digital Collections

Canal Commissioners canal system survey maps, 1832-1843

Related Material

A1078 Engineer's Field Notes for State Canals, may have been used in the production of the maps in this series.

Custodial History

Accretion A0848-06 was transferred to the State Archives from the New York State Museum. These maps are a fragment of one of the several original map sets created and distributed to members of the Canal Commission. Whereabouts of the other sets is unknown.

Access Restrictions

There are no restrictions regarding access to or use of the material.

Access Terms

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Detailed Description

Dates Contents Volume Roll

Accretion: A0848-17
1834 Erie Canal // No. 7. // Jordan to Kirkville (Old Volume 7) - with pencil annotations of abandonments 1
1834 Erie Canal // No. 8. // Kirkville to Rome (Old Volume 8) 2
Cayuga & Seneca // Canals // Survey - Geneva to Montezuma 3
circa 1834 Oswego Canal in Onondaga County From Syracuse to Three River Point 4

Accretion: A0848-77
Erie Canal: Buffalo to Royalton 1 1
Erie Canal: Royalton to Holley 2 1
Erie Canal: Holley to Bushnell's Basin 3 1
Erie Canal: Bushnell's Basin to Galen 4 2
Erie Canal: Galen to Camillus 5 2
Erie Canal: Camillus to Canastota 6 2
Erie Canal: Canastota to Utica 7 2
Erie Canal: Utica to Minden 8 2
Erie Canal: Minden to Rotterdam 9 3
Erie Canal: Rotterdam to Albany 10 3
Erie and Champlain Canal: Feeders 11 3
Champlain Canal: Whitehall to Fort Edward 12 3
Champlain Canal: Fort Miller to Waterford 13 3
Crooked Lake Canal 14 3
Cayuga and Seneca Canal: County of Seneca 15 3
Chenango Canal: Utica to Norwich 16 3
Chenango Canal: Norwich to Binghamton (Includes Feeders and Reservoirs) 17 4
Chemung Canal 18 4
Oneida River Improvement 19 4
Oneida Lake Canal 20 4
Seneca River Improvement: Baldwinsville to Mud Lock 21 4
Genesee Valley Canal (Tracings) 22 4
Genesee Valley Canal: Rochester to Geneseo 23 4
Black River, Vol. 1 24 4
Black River, Vol. 2 25 4
Oswego Canal: General Estimate Book 26 4
Oswego Canal: Syracuse to Oswego 27 4