The Michael Riley

This month we will step back a bit in time to the 1850s, a time when the Erie Canal was being enlarged across the state. A battle ensued in Port Byron over the route of the canal that led to great harm in the business district of the village. What is odd is that this battle seemed to be waged by local landowners with the support of state engineers.

When the state decided to enlarge the canal in the mid 1830s, it was understood that many mistakes had been made in the original building of the canal and that the reconstruction of the canal would allow for some of these mistakes to be corrected. One of the biggest problems with the old canal was the winding nature of the construction. It seemed that any obstacle that the builders faced was simply bypassed by going around it. So in places the canal turned in 90-degree bends, which made it difficult for mule teams to pull boats, and, more importantly, for water to flow downhill to refill the canal. It was a mess. The rebuilding would give the chance to remove these curves, so many in fact that the canal was shortened by fifteen miles by the time the enlargement was complete between Albany and Buffalo.

Unfortunately for Port Byron, the village was located on a curve, and it seems that some saw an opportunity to profit if they could convince the state engineers to move the route of the canal from the business district to the “flats” slightly north of the settled area. This flew in the face of canal law, which forbade any movement of the canal away from business areas; even if it meant leaving a problem area in place.

The curve, or loop, was in reality quite small and, if removed, would only save about a third of a mile in distance, not a great savings in the grand scheme of things.

But, some in the village wanted the canal moved and petitioned the state, and got Canal Commissioner Fitzhugh to reverse himself and allow the move to the new route, which passed over the outlet just south of Green Street. The businessmen of the village, the men who needed the canal to keep the money flowing, protested and got the canal board to reverse its reversal and put the route back to the old route, which passed over the Owasco Outlet south of Rochester Street. This move put the canal back in the business district.

But then the contractors who were hired by the state to build the new route sued and got the route changed once again. In the end, the solution was to move the canal to the new route through the flats and to leave a dead end canal to serve parts of the village on the west side of the Outlet. This probably was a move to keep a route open to the large grist mill that was located near the Outlet.

But this route was quickly abandoned within a year and businesses were paid off for the loss of the canal.

It took eight years to settle this matter, and all through this time, shippers west of Syracuse had to continue to use the smaller “pre-enlargement” boats since the canal through Port Byron wasn't deep or wide enough to use the bigger boats. Shippers then began to use the Oswego route, robbing businessmen from Port Byron west to Buffalo the chance to ship larger loads on the canal.

Thus, the mess at Port Byron became a state wide concern as it dragged on through the years.

Once the enlarged canal was completed in 1858, the larger boats could be used to ship to Rochester and Buffalo, but they couldn't reach the businesses of the village.

The large grist mill, once the largest in the state, burned later that year. The village didn't die, but it was harmed by the loss.

I will be leading a canal walk at 10 a.m. Aug. 2, as part of the Heritage Days Celebration.

We will cover the canal routes as well as many other aspects of canal and village history.

Michael Riley is the Mentz historian