Lock 18 of Enlarged Erie Canal

Infobox nrhp
name = Lock 18 of Enlarged Erie Canal
nrhp_type =


caption = West end of lock, 2008
lat_degrees = 42
lat_minutes = 47
lat_seconds = 05
lat_direction = N
long_degrees = 73
long_minutes = 42
long_seconds = 41
long_direction = W
location = Cohoes, NY
nearest_city =
area =
built = 1837-1842cite web|last=Waite|first=Diana|title=National Register of Historic Places nomination, Lock 18 of Enlarged Erie Canal|url=http://www.oprhp.state.ny.us/hpimaging/hp_view.asp?GroupView=502|publisher=New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation|date=July 1970|accessdate=2008-09-09]
architect = Holmes Hutchinson
architecture =
designated =
added = 1971
established =
visitation_num =
visitation_year =
refnum = 71000526
mpsub =
governing_body = City of Cohoes, private landowner

Lock 18 of the Enlarged Erie Canal is located off North Mohawk Street in Cohoes, New York, United States. It is made of stone blocks 3 by 2 by 1.5 feet (90 by 50 by 40 cm) in size, roughly convert|150|ft|m in length, laid in a random ashlar pattern. The lock's wooden gates are no longer extant.

It was built as part of an 1837-1842 plan to make the canal bed larger, heading off competition from railroads, and allowing a detour around the section of canal between Albany and Schenectady to the south, which had less locks and was difficult to navigate. Holmes Hutchinson, a canal engineer who later became chief of that department and a director of several railroads, surveyed the route and drew up the plans for all locks in the mid-1830s. The canal was relocated slightly within the city of Cohoes; North Mohawk Street today follows the original alignment, which was kept open to provide water power to nearby mill complexes along the Mohawk River.Rossi, Louis; PDFlink| [http://www.mohawktowpath.org/files/CanalBikeTour.pdf History/Mystery Bike Tour: Erie and Champlain Canals in Cohoes and Waterford] , retrieved September 9, 2008.]

Ten of the locks from the Enlarged Erie Canal remain within Cohoes,PDFlink| [http://www.mohawktowpath.org/files/MillDist.pdf Mill District] , Mohawk Towpath Scenic Byway, retrieved September 9, 2008.] Lock 18 is the only one of those listed on the National Register of Historic Places, added in 1970 in recognition of the high quality of its remaining stonework. A city-owned trail along the former towpath allows visitors to see them. There is also a small parking lot along the street with an interpretive plaque.

References

External links

* [http://www.tug44.org/canal.history/erie-lock-18/ Pictures of Lock 18] at Tug44.org