NY Wine Country
Part 2

 Clinton’s Ditch – The Erie Canal 

 The original Erie Canal, completed in 1825, opened the interior of North America to commerce and travelers. This 363 mile-long waterway established the first all-water route for navigation between the Atlantic Ocean and the Great Lakes, helping make New York City an international center of trade. . The present canal is the third route of this waterway. Now more than 500 miles of navigable waterways and paths stretch across upstate New York 

For more history about the changing routes of the canal see:

http://www.eriecanal.org/

    
Fossils in the canal building blocks                         Fort Byron’s abandoned Lock 52

 

The Richmond Aqueduct, built in 1849, carried the Erie Canal waters OVER the Seneca River, eliminating two original locks. This 900 foot aqueduct was built over 31 stone arches. It was partially dismantled in 1917 to make way for the new, larger Erie Barge Canal.

 
Remains of the Richmond Aqueduct

 

Taughannock Falls

Taughannock Creek, in Taugannock State Park, one of several very nice New York State Parks in which we spent our nights, plunges over a 215 foot waterfalls, then flows through a deep gorge into Cayuga Lake. The easy Gorge Trails takes us to the base of the falls.

    
Hard sandstone, soft shale                                             Base of the falls

   
Autumn in the gorge                                                 Limestone floor

 

The Fight for Women’s Rights

August 26, 2020 marked the centennial of women winning the right to vote with passage of the 19^th Amendment. The Women’s Rights National Historical Park in Seneca Falls preserves the setting of this convention. With the signing of the Declaration of Sentiments by both women and men on July 20, 1848 the decade’s long struggle for equal rights for women was begun.

We encourage all who read our posting to also read this historic document.

 
Time now to return to NJ and get the motorhome ready for winter.

 
Autumn hiking in New Jersey

See you in January when we begin our travels to Florida and US Southwest.

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