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DIR Return to: Perinton/Fairport Canal Community Discussion
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#Post#: 2512--------------------------------------------------
Perinton's Oxbow Dam: Past Erie Canal Breaches & Current
Structural Issues
DIR By: Doug K
Date: December 12, 2023, 8:39 am
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Found this interesting article about a piece of Perinton called
The Oxbow and its history of Erie Canal Embankment Breaches.
It's written by a local historian and includes a great image of
what The Oxbow looked like 150 years ago.
HTML https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://perinton.org/wp-content/uploads/The-Oxbow_part_1.pdf<br
/>
The Oxbow
Part One: The Early Years
The original Erie Canal was much narrower and not as deep as
today. Constructed with hand tools and horsepower from 1817 to
1825, the canal had countless bends and turns as surveyors
mapped out a route that best accounted for the elevation of the
land, rock formations, and areas with stable soil. About a half
mile south of the bridge over the canal at Fairport Road, the
original path of the old Erie turned dramatically to the east
and looped in a semi-circle, before continuing its southern path
toward Bushnell’s Basin.
In a stream or river, an area with this characteristic is called
an oxbow, defined in the dictionary as “a U-shaped frame forming
a collar around an ox's neck and holding the yoke in place,” or
in the case of a waterway, “a bend in a river resembling an
oxbow.” When the canal was first enlarged in the 1830’s, and
later in the 1860’s, most of the twists and bends were removed,
often by building an embankment to carry the canal over lower
terrain. Such an embankment, forty feet in height, was
constructed when the canal was relocated and straightened to the
west of the oxbow. Water was allowed to fill the area from the
old canal’s path to the earthen embankment, creating a small
lake. Perinton residents took an immediate liking to the
pleasant surroundings on the east shore of the oxbow and the new
lake, and found it a pleasant place to picnic, camp, fish, and
swim.
The canal suffered frequent breaks in the early years, often at
the site of these man-made embankments. In 1997 Perinton
historian Sue Roberts wrote: “The first Oxbow break occurred
November 29th, 1864. A muskrat burrowed a small hole through the
berm. The force of the water quickly enlarged the hole –
eventually emptying 17 miles of canal, from Montezuma to
Rochester.”
Another break adjacent to the oxbow, even larger than the first,
occurred seven years later, in late April of 1871, again
reportedly caused by a tunneling muskrat. Two hundred feet of
the embankment was washed away, to a depth of 20 to 30 feet
below the bottom of the canal. All the water in the canal from
the locks at Macedon to the east and Pittsford to the west
rushed through the breach. A nearby packet boat was flushed
through the break, and sent on a wild ride west through farm
fields and fences, to land part way up an elm tree. The captain,
his wife, child and steersman were reportedly unhurt. According
to newspaper reports, the dam at Hayward’s mill on Irondequoit
Creek and the bridge at the Rochester Road (Fairport Road) were
washed away.
Repairs to the embankment were quickly begun, but trouble soon
followed. Approximately 800 workers were hired to repair the
break, some local, but many others from out of town. Some of the
workers grew increasingly agitated, fueled by poor weather,
difficult working conditions, and more than a little drinking.
When the rowdies demanded more money for their labor and
violence appeared imminent, the New York State Militia was
brought in to quell the rioters.
It's imperative that the Erie Canal Embankment in Perinton, that
makes up the Oxbow Dam and holds back Oxbow Lake, is brought
back into compliance for Earthen Dam Safety according to NYS
Dept of Environmental Conservation, and also FEMA standards.
Currently there are people actively trying to prevent that,
including a social media group in denial about the sad state of
Erie Canal Safety.
Even the Perinton Supervisor is trying to ignore the obvious,
well documented earthen dam safety issues on the Oxbow Dam, that
have been brought up by New York State, with his new plan to
create a viewshed zone to keep trees growing where they should
not be, along the outboard slope of the Oxbow Dam. That new ECCO
zone would possibly mean flood insurance requirements would
change, and Erie Canal Neighbors living below the dam would
remain in a Flood Inundation Zone, below a high hazard dam.
Is that ECCO idea really a good plan for all Perinton Residents?
Go read for yourself...
HTML https://ecna.createaforum.com/perinton-canal-embankment-discussion/ecco-what-is-that/
Better yet, support your Perinton Community Safety by signing
this Petition
HTML https://www.change.org/p/join-your-neighbors-support-vegetation-removal-from-erie-canal-for-safety
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