Chronology - Oswego Canal.

CHRONOLOGICAL RÉSUMÉ OF IMPORTANT LAWS AND EVENTS.

OSWEGO CANAL.

1808	Western Lock Navigation Co. surrenders grant west of Oneida lake. James Geddes to survey between Ontario and Oneida lakes.
1809	Report showing Oneida lake to Three River Point, 18 miles, fall 12.5 ft.; thence to Oswego, 24 miles, fall 111.5 ft.
1819	Chapter 105 – $6,000 appropriated for side-cut, Erie canal to Salina, 1 mile, 43 chains. (Work completed during year.) April 13, – Concurrent resolution, survey to be made of Oswego river to Three River Point and Seneca river to Onondaga lake.
1820	Chapter 117 – $25,000 appropriated for improvement of Oswego river. Report of D. S. Bates for canal from Salina to Oswego, 36 miles, fall 156 ft. Land Office to sell State lands for canal funds.
1822	Chapter 40 – Onondaga lake to be lowered to Seneca river level. (Work completed.) Chapter 274 – Seneca side-cut to be extended to Onondaga lake.
1823	Chapter 205 – Commissioners to survey Oswego river from falls to Lake Ontario. Chapter 241 – Oswego Canal Co. incorporated, capital stock $10,000. Salina side-cut extended.
1824	Hutchinson’s report on canal from head of falls to Lake Ontario; cost $227,568.33. Chapter 279 – $28,000 appropriated for improvement of Oswego river.
1825	Chapter 272 – $160,000 authorized to build canal. Construction begun; 18 miles river improvement, 14 miles of canal.
1826	Canal completed from Onondaga lake to Three River rift. 10 miles. Three important dams built across Oswego river; several guard and lift-locks built and material delivered for completion of those to be built.
1827	Chapter 219 – $210,000 appropriated to connect Oswego canal with Erie canal at Salina. Chapter 9 (R. S.) – Maps to be made of all existing canals. Completion of the canal greatly retarded by sickness among laborers.
1828	Chapter 275 – Not to exceed $15,000 to be borrowed for canal. December 10, – Canal completed.
1829	April 28, – Entire canal open to navigation. Banks along Onondaga lake faced with timber. Petition from citizens of Utica praying that the waters of Oneida lake be lowered.
1834	Hutchinson’s "Blue line" maps completed.
1835	Wooden guard-lock {see errata.} at Horseshoe dam rebuilt.
1836	Chapter 79 – Commissioners to rebuild Mud lock. (Rebuilt of stone.) Unusual high water in spring floods greatly injure the canal.
1837	Salina side-cut taken by the State. Pier built at Oswego, 540 ft. long. October 26, – Dam No. 7 in course of repairs, badly damaged by sudden rise in river, 60 ft. east end of dam carried away.
1838	Two hundred ft. of Oswego falls dam rebuilt.
1839	Piers built at Phoenix, Horseshoe dam and lock No. 12, 600 ft. long, the former a reconstruction, the latter two new constructions.
1841	Chapter 183 – Commissioners to excavate Onondaga outlet to reduce lake to river level, also take waters Onondaga creek for Oswego canal. Small drainage canal reopened from Onondaga lake to Seneca river.
1842	Chapter 114 – "Stop law," all work excepting necessary repairs stopped.
1843	Unusually high water in Onondaga lake and Seneca and Oswego rivers, delaying opening of the canal till early in May.
1845	Chapter 128 – Commissioners to take Liverpool side-cuts and treat them as a part of the Oswego canal.
1846	Constitution, Art. VII, Sec. 6, – Canals never to be sold, leased or otherwise disposed of. Oswego dam badly damaged by flood.
1847	Chapter 262 – $100,000 appropriated toward enlargement of locks to 110 x 18 ft. Waterhouse creek aqueduct enlarged and rebuilt.
1849	Chapter 214 – $100,000 appropriated by chapter 262-1847, reappropriated.
1850	Chapter 371 – Sections 2 and 3 of chapter 214-1849. repealed.
1851	Chapter 343 – Chapter 262-1847 renewed. Chapter 501 – $200,000 to be made available in 1851 and $200,000 in 1852 for enlargement of locks. Contracts let for enlargement. Three locks at Fulton and one at Oswego completed.
1852	Five locks enlarged to date. Chapter 270 – An act in relation to the enlargement of the Erie and Oswego canals. Chapter 281 – Line of Oswego canal at Phoenix to be changed.
1853	Chapter 186 – Chapter 262-1847 renewed. Chapter 440 – Bridge to be built at Bridge St., Phoenix. Chapter 473 – Repeals chapter 270-1852. Chapter 620 – $50,000 appropriated.
1854	Constitution, Art. VII, Sec. 3, – Legislature to appropriate annually for enlargement of canals ; also authorizes enlargements of Oswego canal. Chapter 16 – $10,000 appropriated for improvement of canal. Chapter 329 – $169,000 appropriated for enlargement Oswego canal. Chapter 330 – $179,000 appropriated for fiscal year. Dam No. 7 rebuilt.
1855	Seventeen lift-locks and 4 guard-locks enlarged. Enlarged boats in use, owing to completion of improved locks.
1856	Chapter 95 – Salina side-cut to be extended; lake to be lowered. Chapter 148 – $140,000 appropriated for fiscal year. Iron bridges built at Salina and Willow Sts., Syracuse. Phoenix dam raised 4 ft., 2 inches. Dam No. 5 rebuilt. Work suspended; no funds.
1857	Chapter 365 – $444,904 appropriated. Iron bridge built at junction with Erie canal. Guard-lock No. 2 completed. Oswego stone dam completed.
1858	Chapter 329 – $468,444.62 appropriated from Erie.
1859	Chapter 149 – $138,640 to be raised by taxes for enlargement of the canal. Chapter 326 – $133,034.96 appropriated by chapter 365-1857 reappropriated. Twenty-three miles enlargement completed.
1860	Chapter 213 – $194,117 appropriated; big bevels to be cut from enlarged locks and bridges raised to 12 ft. clearance. Chapter 413 – Bridge to be built over the canal at Volney.
1861	Dam at Phoenix raised 1 foot, 3 inches, to 7 ft. above canal bottom. Braddock’s rapids dam lowered to 7 ft. above canal bottom. Lift-lock No. 6 completed.
1862	Chapter 137 – $35,000 reappropriated for enlargement and completion of canal. Chapter 169 – Enlargement declared completed. Mud lock rebuilt.
1863	Chapter 311 – Surveys and estimates to be made for gunboat locks, 225 x 26 ft. Chapter 484 – $30,000 appropriated for a weigh-lock on the canal.
1864	Chapter 475 – Phoenix and Horseshoe dams to be rebuilt of masonry. Estimate made for gunboat locks, pursuant to chapter 311-1863.
1865	Chapter 470 – All dams to be rebuilt of masonry upon signs of failure. Chapter 483 – Concerning the completion of the weigh-lock at Oswego. Chapter 747 – Reappropriates certain funds for completion of weigh-lock at Oswego. Chapter 752 – Amends chapter 475-1864, concerning rebuilding Phoenix and Horseshoe dams. March 16, 17, 18, – Freshet damages canal, also High, Minetto, Van Buren and Oswego Falls dams.
1866	Chapter 611 – For a bridge over canal near Oswego weigh-lock. Weigh-lock completed at Oswego. High dam completed. Horseshoe dam dispensed with.
1867	Chapter 500 – Iron bridge to be built over canal at Utica St., Oswego. Chapter 579 – $80,000 appropriated. Chapter 605 – Iron bridge to be built over canal at Broadway St., Fulton. Stone dams at Oswego Falls and Phoenix completed. June, – Great freshet, 10 miles of towing-path between Mud lock and Phoenix under several feet of water.
1868	Chapter 108 – Bridge to be built over new Onondaga outlet. Chapter 715 – $50,000 appropriated for rebuilding High dam of stone. Braddock’s rapids dam rebuilt of stone.
1869	Chapter 877 – $13, 000 for deepening river; $25,000 for raising banks; $4,000 for vertical wall near Bradley’s creek; $4,000 for bridge at Fulton; $15,000 for docks on side-cuts, Salina. Dock at Greenpoint completed.
1870	Chapter 767 – Appropriation for improvement of canal.
1871	Chapter 930 – $22,000 appropriated for rebuilding High dam. Minetto dam rebuilt of stone.
1872	Chapter 850 – Appropriates $88,000 for completing High dam.
1873	Chapter 766 – Appropriates $10,000 for improvement to canal, also $60,000 for completing High dam. April, – Freshets submerge canal its entire length. High dam completed.
1874	Chapter 382 – Turntable bridge to be built at Salina and Bridge Sts., Syracuse
1875	Chapter 594 – Appropriation for improvements to canal.
1876	Chapter 425 – Appropriation for river and basin in Oswego.
1877	Dams protected by sloping aprons as required by chapter 425-1876.
1883	Chapter 10 – Syracuse to substitute a swing-bridge in place of elevated bridge over canal at James St. Chapter 495 – Oswego canal fund, appropriation.
1886	Chapter 646 – Locks on canal to be lengthened to 220 ft.
1887	Chapter 113 – Appropriation for improvement of the canal. Locks Nos. 5 and 6 and guard-lock No. 1 lengthened.
1888	Chapter 416 – Appropriation for increasing lockage capacity and improvement of canal. Lock No. 7 and guard-lock No. 4 lengthened.
1889	Chapter 493 – Reappropriates unexpended balance for lengthening locks, pursuant to chapter 113-1887. Chapter 568 – Appropriation for increasing the lockage capacity of the canal. Lock No. 11 and guard-lock No. 3 lengthened.
1890	Chapter 168 – Locks to be lengthened and canal improved. Chapter 338 – Reappropriates unexpended balance for canal improvement, pursuant to chapter 416-1888. Locks Nos. 9 and 10 lengthened.
1891	Chapter 226 – For construction of canal wall at Oswego. Locks Nos. 8 and 12 lengthened.
1892	Chapter 124 – Appropriation for payment of amounts due for lengthening locks on canal. Chapter 229 – For a swing-bridge at North Salina St., Syracuse.
1893	Chapter 93 – For an iron bridge over canal at Sycamore St., Liverpool (Removed from Geddes St., Erie canal.) Chapter 119 – Appropriates $10,000 for improvement of canal, also $5,000 for ditch at Liverpool.
1894	Chapter 466 – For construction of a sewer under the canal at Fulton. Chapter 572 – Additional appropriation, $30,000, for improving canal, pursuant to chapter 119-1893. Steel apron built at Braddock’s dam and a stone apron at Oswego dam.
1895	Chapter 79 – Bonds to be issued for improvement of canal to 9 feet depth. Chapter 219 – Reappropriations for bridge over canal at Sycamore St., Liverpool. November 5, – People ratify provisions of chapter 79-1895 by majority of 276,886 votes.
1896	Chapter 482 – Reappropriation for improvement to canal. Chapter 794 – Amending chapter 79-1895, regulates the making of contracts for work on canal. Contracts let for raising Braddock’s, High, Oswego and Minetto dams, lengthening lock No. 18, and improving prism.
1897	Chapter 43 – Unexpended balance of chapter 79-1895 for improvement of canal reappropriated. Chapter 113 – For a steel bridge at Oneida St., Fulton. (Completed 1898.) Chapter 569 – Appropriation for carrying on improvements to canal provided by chapter 79-1895. Contract let for raising Oswego Falls dam. Lake Ontario level completed.
1898	Lock No. 18 lengthened.
1899	Chapter 220 – Reappropriates unexpended balance for improvement of canal, pursuant to chapter 569-1897.
1900	Chapter 411 – Preliminary survey for Barge canal. Chapter 477 – Reappropriates unexpended balance for Oneida and First St. bridge, Fulton, pursuant to chapter 113-1897.
1901	Chapter 108 – Reappropriates unexpended balance for improvement of canal, pursuant to chapters 569-1897 and 220-1899.
1902	Chapter 471 – For an iron bridge over canal at North Salina St., Syracuse.
1903	Chapter 147 – Barge canal to be built. including Oswego route. Chapter 600 – For a hoist-bridge over canal at Willow St., Syracuse.
1905	Chapter 143 – Reappropriation for improvement of canal, pursuant to chapter 147-1903. Chapter 172 – Reappropriates unexpended balance for lift-bridge at Willow St., Syracuse. pursuant to chapter 600-1903. Chapter 709 – Appropriation for repairs and improvements to structures on canal. Chapter 740 – Amends chapter 147-1903, relating to locks and channel of canal.

Chronological Résumé Page | Contents Page
Erie Canal home page | Historical Documents page