After I posted the articles about Max Gard, and the Sandy and Beaver maps, I was contacted by Max’s grandson who said that he had a few copies of The Sandy and Beaver Canal book in his garage, and asked if he could send them to me.
This book was written by R. Max Gard, J.C. Hassler, and William H. Vodrey, Jr., in the 1950s and is the best work on the canal. The trio hiked and studied the canal and carefully drafted a large map that they included with the book. The original map was in two halves, each about 24 by 36 inches, and was printed on a lightweight paper that could be folded and placed in a pocket in the back of the book. Luckily, I have one of these books in the ACS archives as part of the Barber Collection and it had the maps. I had the maps scanned and have them up on the map page.
The book is available as a free download on hathi trust if you like your books as digital files.
The 18 books that came in the mail are softcover reprints of the original with the pocket in the rear, but no maps. So I had them reprinted on 11 by 17 paper, and they are very readable. So if you wish to add this book to your library, you can purchase a copy for $23.00 (20.00 plus 3 for S&H). Just send us an email at americancanals@gmail.com, and we will get one out to you.
Inland. The Abandoned Canals of the Schuylkill Navigation, Sandy Sorlien, with a foreward by John R. Stilgoe and essays by Mike Szilagyl and Karen Young. 2022. Hardcover, 192 pages.
The late Tom Grasso liked to call the ruins of the towpath canals our version of the Mayan ruins. You can find the remains of towpath canals throughout the landscape of the northeast and midwest in various conditions, from the lock that looks like it could be put to use today (with a bit of work), to piles of stones that where, maybe, an old lock that might have been. However, unlike the Mayan ruins, we have records, reports, maps, drawings, and even photographs of the canals in use. In many cases we can say how much stone and lumber went into a structure and what it cost. If we feel we need it, we can find out a lot about the old canals.
And yet, there is always a sense of mystery in those canal ruins. Most of the people who looks upon an old lock or aqueduct will not be a canal historian, and yet they will be fascinated by the stonework. Some will see art and beauty in the stones. It doesn’t matter what it was, the fact that it is here is enough. Some will see how nature is reclaiming the stones, with plants growing out from between the stonework and animals using it as their home. Others will see the ruins and wonder how our forefathers cut, shaped, moved and stacked the heavy stones. No matter how you look at them, the ruins of the past will always cause a sense of wonder.
The Schuylkill Navigation was one of many canals built in the 1800s, and it became one of the more successful canals that you have never heard about. Built along the Schuylkill River between Philadelphia and Port Carbon, the 108-mile-long system was a mix of river pools and 27 man-made canals. Construction began in the early 1800s and the canal remained in use through the early 1900s. Like many of the Pennsylvanian canals, it was built to haul coal and lumber to the cities along the Atlantic coast. However, unless you are from the Schuylkill area, or a canal historian, it is unlikely that you have learned about this navigation.
In Inland, Sandy Sorlien presents a history and photographic journey along of the Schuylkill Navigation in a grand style. Unlike the majority of history books that are presented in the typical smaller formats designed to fit on the book shelf, Sandy seemingly throws caution to the wind, using a large format that allows the photos and prints to be viewed with vibrancy, color and clarity. Sure, it costs more, but the book itself becomes a piece of art, as Sandy is a professional photographer and it shows in her images. The larger format encourages you to linger on the photos and prints to take them all in, and it is so nice that you can read the maps without the need to pull out the magnifying glass. The large format allows a map of the 108-mile-long navigation to flow, in color, across the inside front covers to the inside back covers. It might be the best map of the system I have seen.
The journey begins at the northern end in Schuylkill County and runs south to Philadelphia County. Sandy visited every lock and aqueduct site, and hiked all the 27 canals where they exist. Each photograph is presented with a brief caption. If you wish to know more, a separate chapter offers more detail on each photograph, such as notes about the structures and personal observations from her explorations. I especially enjoyed the drawings and maps in color. The people who drew these were often artists in their own right and presenting these in color is a nod to their talents.
Tom Grasso was fond of saying that the canal was the one creation of man most in harmony with nature. While the active canal offers an environment where animals and plants can live and thrive, the abandoned canal is gradually reclaimed to a point where it is difficult to distinguish between the man-made and the natural. The freeze-thaw cycle causes stones to shift and crack. Plants grow in the these cracks further hastening their decay. Trees grow and die. Seasonal floods wash away walls and berms leveling the landscape. The modern day canal historian realizes the need to capture this moment in time, as it, in itself becomes part of their history. Even though the canal is not in use, it is still there, and at some point, photographs taken today will become just as important as those taken 100 years ago.
As a plus, Inland also serves as a guide to the Schuylkill River Trail, the 120-mile-long greenway that follows the route of the old navigation and the railroads that replaced the canal boats. By using this book, you should be able to locate and understand the how and why of the system. It is a wonderful book.
(This was not a sponsored review. I purchased the book.)
In 1920, a headline in the Rome Daily Sentinel noted the passing of George L Schillner. It read; “Was An Engineer Of Great Ability.” If the name sounds familiar, it might be because George Schillner will be forever tied to the 1896 New York State Canal Blue Line Maps, otherwise known as “The Schillner Maps.”
George was born in Rome, NY, in January 1862. He was one of ten children of John and Nancy (Miller) Schillner. John Schillner (John’s father) was born in Wurtemburg, Germany and immigrated with his parents and siblings around 1847. After landing in New York City, the family appears to have moved directly to Rome. Nancy Miller (George’s mother) was the daughter of Joseph and Catherine (Seigle or Seigel) Miller. The Seigle family also came from Germany, but Nancy was born in New London, Oneida County. There was a large and active German community in the Oneida area and it would have been easy for John and Nancy to meet. John and Nancy were married about 1856.
We know a little about what jobs the family took on when they reached Oneida county. Conradt Schillner (George’s Grandfather) was a tailor with a home on Canal Street in Rome. Like many immigrants, John would first find employment as a “laborer,” and later he purchased a saloon. John’s younger brother Michael appears to have found work on the canal, leaving it around 1862 to become a liquor wholesaler located in the Armstrong Block. John’s youngest brother George C (likely for Conrad) was the last in the family to be born in Germany. He would become a civil engineer and later the Rome City Engineer. The family is often mentioned for their musical talents. George C was noted for his talents and because he consolidated the Old Rome Band with the Rome Musical Association. These two groups were mostly made up of Germans.
It is a safe bet that George L was named for his uncle, George C. (Oddly, the ‘L’ of George’s middle name is never explained.) George L followed his uncle into the civil engineering profession, and both men served as civil engineers in Rome. (This can make searching them a bit nutty!) The younger George was noted for his artistic abilities, and often made sketches of others in the family. While George C listed himself as a Civil Engineer and Surveyor, and a Mechanical Draughtsman; George L called himself a Civil Engineer, Surveyor and Architect. The only mention I could find of his time in Rome was in 1885, when it was reported that both the George’s worked on plans for an addition to the Oneida County Asylum.
In 1891, George left Rome to take a job as the head draftsman on the Adirondack and St. Lawrence Railroad. In 1893, he moved to Herkimer, where as his obituary states, he took charge of the engineering department of the Mohawk and Malone railroad. At the same time, he joined with two other engineers to form the civil engineering firm of Roberts, Schillner and Evan.
In January 1896, the paper mentions that George has been appointed by State Engineer Adams to the office of the state engineer as a mapmaker and draftsman on the 1895 Improvement project. At work, George found himself in good company. Two of his co-workers were Charles Delvan Burrus, and Merritt Peckham, Jr. Charles Burrus had been an state employee as a draftsman and engineer since the mid-1860s.i He worked on the enlargement of the Champlain Canal in 1866 and was the draftsman for the 1869 “Richmond” maps of the Enlarged Erie between Albany and Rexford. He was noted for having drawn the best map ever seen of Lake George in 1883, as his five-foot-long map of the lake was so detailed that it showed every one of it’s 250 islands.ii Merritt Peckham, Jr., was from the Utica area and would later serve as the Assistant Engineer in Charge of Land Bureau. One gets the sense that he liked things to be in order as in 1908 he wrote; “There has been a usual amount of correspondence and answering of inquires from surveyors, lawyers, and others on matters pertaining to the original maps and descriptions of the Colonial and early State surveys filed in this office.”…”For better preserving these records they have been rearranged, placed in bound volumes and indexed for convenience of reference. That it is the proper method for the care of these valuable papers,,,” These two liked to set things straight.
In January 1898, George married Mary Ann Morgan of Rome.iii Mary broke the mold when it came to members of the family staying within the German community, as she had emigrated from Wales shortly after her birth in 1869.
The work on the canal improvement was ordered to stop on March 8, 1898. By way of legislative frugality, the lack of time to prepare and create proper estimates and plans, and the poor state of the canal, the state had run out of money. And yet, work on the maps continued, mostly likely because the state still needed a decent set of maps that showed ownership, mostly for the Board of Claims and legal issues that arose from the work. The annual reports show that Schillner and his team continued to be employed on the mapping project for years, even while working on other projects. The state passed continuing resolutions to keep paying for the map work, even when Governor Odell vetoed the payments saying that there “does not seem to me to be any necessity for this item.”iv However, the work continued up to 1908.v
Perhaps the slow down in work allowed George to have time to survey and draw a map of the Capitol Park grounds in Albany. This project was part of the efforts to complete the construction of the Capitol that had been going on for years. viHe was also credited for drafting the plans for the West McKinley Colony on the Isle of Pines in Cuba.vii His name is listed under payments for work on canal repairs, State Board of Claims, even the 1910 Blue Line Maps. George remained employed with the state until his death in 1920. His obituary says that he was an accomplished musician and played the violin in bands around the Rome and Utica area, and then later, in Albany. George and Mary never had children, and no one in the family has produced a genealogy of the Schillner group.viii
NYSA_A3185-78, Map of capital park. NYS Archives. The George L. Schillner map of the West McKinley Colony.
The Schillner name pops up in a curious bit of history although only by marriage. Michael Schillner’s wife, Mary Frances Miller (who was the sister of Nancy), was used a witness to history. In a short book about the digging of the first shovel of earth in the construction of the Erie Canal, the author states that Mary Schillner reported that; “her two uncles, Joseph Seigel and Michael Seigel, were owners and captains of boats used on the Inland Navigation Company’s Canal and she always understood from their conversation and especially by what she was told by Joseph Seigel that the first excavation for the Erie canal was started somewhere in the vicinity of Fort Bull.”ix Like a lot of history, this folklore was accepted as truth, and yet the dates don’t line up. If they were boaters on the canal, it was likely that they were on the first Erie.
So there you go. I don’t even have a picture of the man to share!
iNobel Whitford, Supplement to the Annual Report of the State Engineer and Surveyor, September 30, 1905, Brandow Printing Company, Albany, Vol. 2, 1906. A short bio on Charles D Burrus can be found on page 1151. His obituary says that he was the oldest active man in service of the state when he died in 1919.
iiThe Post-Star, Glens Falls, NY September 15, 1883, page 3. Column mention.
iiiSchillner-Morgan, Rome Semi-Weekly Citizen, January 18, 1898
ivPublic Papers of Governor Odell for 1902, J.B. Lyon Company, Albany, 1907. Page 162
vAnson Getman, Principles and Sources of Title To Real Property, Matthew Bender and Company, Albany, 1921. Page 53.
viNew York State Archives, A3185, New York State New Capitol Commission New Capitol Park
viiRare Cadastral and Promotional Map for the West McKinley Colony, on the Isle of Pines. Www.raremaps.com/gallery/detail/54017/west-mckinley-colony-isle-of-pines-cuba-schillner
viiiI have made a quick family tree on Ancestry.com.
ixRome Chamber of Commerce, Memorial Of Centennial Celebration of the First Shovelful Of Earth In The Construction Of The Erie Canal, Held At Rome, N.Y., July 4th, 1917. Page 79
The focus of this article is how the built and operating canals were surveyed and mapped. We might call these maps “As Builts,” since they show what had been constructed. Having a decent map would aid the engineers and maintenance crews in their planning and repairs. And was necessary for the legal departments who had to defend against damage claims. This article will take a look at the history these maps, and why you should be using them as a canal researcher.
Although the process would be similar, the work of the surveying teams who measured the land to determine the route of the yet to be built canal, was very different. The life and hardships of these men is the stuff of legend, and there are many books and articles about them. In his autobiography, John Jervis wrote about his early life on canal survey crew, which offers a look at how someone could start as a axeman and work his way up to becoming an civil engineer.i William C Young wrote about his time on a survey crew in 1816-17 which offers a intimate look at how the crews functioned.ii
Over the nearly 100-years of the towpath canals in New York State, thousands of maps have been drawn that show the canals. But only a few maps show the entire length of the canals, from end to end, in a scale that allows the researcher to see structures, nearby buildings and streets, and even property owners. The maps that this article will focus on are;
1) The 1834 “Holmes Hutchinson” maps of the early canals.iii
At one time New York State had twelve working canals covering nearly1000 miles, and not every map set will cover every canal. But rest assured that somewhere in the New York State Archives, there will be a map of your canal and it is likely that many of these methods described here will apply.
Surveying the Built Canal, and the Red and Blue Lines
For the purpose of this article, let us keep things simple and say that the survey process locates fixed points on the earth, while a map is a visual representation of the survey. An example might an old deed that says something like, “Beginning at a blaze on a apple tree near the road.” Here the apple tree becomes the point where the survey begins and all others will go to start as they retrace the survey or property lines. If the deed is from the early 1800s, it might tell you to, “walk 14 paces to the rock in the stream and then follow the course of the stream down to the bridge.” This is the Metes and Bounds method of surveying. Over the years the process improved and became more scientific that used measuring instruments. Thus you will see phrases such as; “runs thence north 20 degrees 45 minutes east, two chains, 4 links.” Whatever the method, by repeatedly finding and connecting points in the landscape, a survey will be created. Later, by using the survey and notes, a map could be drawn.vii
This method of a boundary survey works fine for determining the outline of a piece of land. But on a long and linear canal, that might have been built through wetlands or deep cuts, it would be impractical to try to measure the properties boundary. Instead, another method was used. As the canals had a nice flat towpath, it was a simple matter to layout a line along the towpath and use this as the base line from which all measurements were made. The base line, shown on the survey notes and maps with red ink, became known as the red line.
Wherever there was a change in the canal, such as a change in direction or the width of the canal, or to note a structure (bridge, aqueduct, or lock, etc), the surveyor would stop and establish a cross section. The cross section was perpendicular to the red line running to outer edges of the canal property. Using the red line as the base, measurements would be taken to the outer edge of the towpath and berm embankments. So keep in mind that any red line on the map is a line of measurement.
A very simplified drawing of the redline and cross sections
Once the surveys were completed, a draftsman would use the survey data to draw a map. With the red line and cross sections laid out on paper, the outside boundary of the canal land could be roughly determined by drawing a line that connected the end of each cross section. Since blue ink was used to show this line, the “blue line” became the term for the state boundaries. This is why the drainage ditches on the outer edge of the embankments were called the “Blue Line Ditches,” and the maps are called the “Blue Line Maps.” Just keep in mind that the blue line was not measured, it was inferred.
In 1891, a newspaper article said; “What the Blue-Line Is.” The “Blue Line” is often mentioned in the course of the pending great debate in the senate. A brief explanation of what the Blue line is may be of interest. This line was established by the canal board when the canal enlargement of 1840 was made. The engineer corps, in surveying for the enlargement, indicated on its maps with a blue line the boundaries of the lands which were deemed necessary for State purposes. The irregularity of the line is explained as having been caused by adaptations to the needs of the canal. Where there wee embankments or streams or other peculiarities, the line was made to conform to these conditions as they were thought to affect the canals. The rule was to run the line five or six feet outside the limit of land absolutely required. The indication by the blue line was a formal taking of property by the State and extinction of the title of formal ownership.viii The date of 1840 in this article appears to be slightly in error as the first instance of the use of a blue line was with the 1834 canal maps. The term “blue line” would later be adopted for the line that shows the state lands in the Adirondack Park.
The blue line connects the cross sections.
Field Books and Monuments
A part of the survey teams tool kit were small note books in which they recorded their measurements and notes. In order to not turn this article into a book, it will suffice to note that these note books were used to record not only what the surveyor was measuring, but also what was around them. All the data you will find on the finished maps will be found in the field books, plus more. If you are exploring local history, and what may have been around the canals, be sure to check the field note books. Don’t assume it will be on the maps.
Below are two versions of the 1830s Holmes Hutchinson field notes, showing the Erie Canal in Port Byron, NY. The rough draft was likely done in the field while the other was a cleaned up version, perhaps drawn in the office. The survey shows the canal crossing the Owasco Aqueduct and passing Beach’s Mill. At the time the mill was one of the largest in the state and used the canal for receiving grain and shipping flour. Note that the canal is represented as running straight up the page, while on the map, the canal has quite the bend.
1834 field notes of Port Byron. All the maps used in this post are from the New York State Archives. (B0292) A cleaned up version of the Port Byron notes. Note the location of the drydock and mill. (B0292)The 1834 Holmes hutchinson map of Port Byron. Note the drydock and Beach’s Mill. (Joined by author. Erie Canal_6_Camillus to Galen, 309 Erie HH Map Mentz (Port Byron).pdf, and 310 Erie HH Map Mentz (Port Byron).pdf. Cropped to fit.)
As noted prior, all surveys need a physical point in the landscape where the measurements begin. These might be called a bench-mark, a hub, or a monument. While the older surveys used anything that was prominent in the landscape, such as that apple tree, eventually the tree would died and the stump dug up. And as more property was sold and divided, conflicts arose as to the lines of ownership.
In 1827, Governor DeWitt Clinton recommended that a survey of the state be made and a map drawn. Nothing happened with this. Then again in 1852 and ‘53, the governors stated that a state-wide survey be made, but nothing happened. In 1875, the American Geographical Society reported; “that the existing maps, made from these old land-parcelling surveys and by private parties, were as nearly worthless as possible.”ix The state finally relented and began a survey in 1876.
To begin their survey, the State used monuments that had been placed along the Atlantic coast by the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, and and monuments around the Great Lakes that had been installed by the United States Lake Survey. These would serve as the foundation for their survey. If the survey was carried out correctly, the two should meet at exactly the same place somewhere in the middle of the state. This survey went on up to 1884 when the Governor vetoed the funding. It was restarted in 1888 by the U.S. Geological Surveyor and continued ever since.
As part of this survey, monuments were placed in the landscape that noted true north. Any surveyor could then use one of these to begin their measurements and thus, everyone would be working off the same grid. Interestingly, the canal itself would often become the place of permanence in the landscape and many deeds will often mention the blue line of the canal as part of the survey, even though in many cases, the line of the canal was often in doubt.
This is a fun example showing the use of bench marks. I include it because it is a remarkable example of what you can find in the field books. This is from the 1895 Improvement of the Clyde area. I would bet that Mack’s barn looked like this. (B0730 Box 23)
The 1834 Holmes Hutchinson Maps
As noted, the 1834 Holmes Hutchinson (HH) maps are a set of “as builts,” meaning that they are a record what had been built. During the canal construction, property was often taken and the state had no record of what was what, and who was who. The HH maps were made to fill that void.
In the HH collection, there are a total of 18 volumes showing five canals. The Erie Canal is shown in 10 volumes, with about 540 maps total. All the Hutchinson map sets have a set of Explanatory Remarks that go into detail as to how the map was drawn, but here are the basics with some added comments.
For surveyors of that time, the method of measurement was the 66-foot-long chain, otherwise known as the Surveyors or Gunter Chain. The chain had 100 links, each .66 of a foot or 7.92 inches in length. A mile would be 80 chains long (66ft times 80 chains = 5280 feet or one mile). The were drawn at a scale of two chains to the inch, or one inch equals 132 feet (66 times 2 = 132 feet), and all measurements are shown as chains and links. The measurements seem to run from west to east, although I have yet to find a point of beginning. But knowing where the surveyor began doesn’t really matter with this type of survey, because at every cross section, the measurement is reset to zero. So it goes something like this; start here- measure 2.50 chains to a cross section- stop, note the distance and measure the cross section, then reset and restart- measure 4 chains- stop, make notes, etc. In total, the measured distance was 6.50 chains, but it is not represented in that manner. On the colored version of the maps, it is easy to see where each measurement ends as it is noted with as a solid red cross section line running across the canal.
Confused? There is more. There are also places where an intermediate measurements were taken, meaning that the distance, bearing and cross section were noted, but the measurement continues. These intermediate sections are shown as dashed red lines. So you will see: start- measure 1.5 chains, stop to note measurement, continue- measure 3.0 chains – stop and reset to zero.
The measurements shown here are on one of the Hutchinson maps.
All compass headings are shown using the quadrant system where all headings begin either North or South, and then work between 0 and 90 degrees East or West. The heading N 88 E shows us that the canal was pointed 88 degrees east of north, or almost due east.
The HH maps are wonderful to study as they include the built and natural environs around the canal. Stores, businesses, property owners, roads and streets, prior canals, creeks, rivers, mill races, steam and electric railroads, historical sites, and more, can be found on the maps. The maps only include those features that are within a block or two of the canal, so in places where the canal passed through a city or village, you see a slice of the neighborhood. As they were drawn in the 1830s, these maps are often the first ever made of many villages and cities.
The 1834 HH maps were accepted and certified by the Canal Board, the Board of Canal Commissioners, and the Comptroller’s Office, as the legal maps of the State of New York.
The 1869-1874 Enlarged Canal Maps
The 1869 maps are another set of “as-builts,” showing the recently completed Enlarged canals. The funds to survey and complete the maps was provided by Chapter 543, Laws of 1866. The law states that the funding was to defray the expense of completing the work. This seems to suggest that the maps had been in the works prior to 1866, but there may have been an issue within the engineering offices as the act also notes that a uniform style of map had been adopted. The maps were completed in 1874. The Archives has them listed as B0292 in various volumes.
The maps were drawn in the offices of the division engineers, beginning with Van Richmond’s in the east. The 1869 “Richmond” map shows the canal from Albany to Rexford. These maps use the 66-foot-long Gunter chain, and many of the methods of measurement that were used on the Hutchinson maps apply to these. And yet, there are notations that tie the surveys, in some places, to local monuments. You can see these in the Cohoes area. As these maps predate the statewide surveys, it would be interesting to know what the monuments were. And other base lines were used to tie the survey to the landscape. In this way, these surveys are a bit more “scientific.” However, the maps are lacking in many of the details seen on the other maps. While they show nearby streets, and even the outline of blocks, they show only a few canal side buildings. They also show the route of the early canals. The maps were never certified but they were used by the state.
The 1869 Richmond map of the West Troy sidecut. The map was drawn by Charles D Burrus. (crop of Richmond1869 47-12A UpprSdCt.jpg)
The 1896 Schillner Maps
The Schillner maps came about as a result of the 1895 Improvement, also known as the nine-million-dollar deepening. The project was passed as an legislative act under Chapter 79 of the Laws of 1895, which called for the deepening of the canal by two feet, from seven to nine feet.x To support this work, surveys were made of the Erie, Champlain and Oswego in the winter of 1896 while the canals were shut down and drained. Although the main purpose of the surveys was to provide data to the engineering department in their efforts to create estimates and let out contracts for work, they were later used to create the1896 maps.
In the complete Schillner map archive, there are 71 rolls of three canals; the Erie, Champlain and Oswego. There are 53 rolls in the Erie set, 10 of the Champlain, and 8 of the Oswego. Physically, these maps are large at 234 x 183 cm, or 94 x 73 inches, Each roll is divided into four, five or six “frames” stacked top to bottom, each one running horizontally across the full width of the roll. Each frame is 30 to 60 cm, or 12 to 24 inches, in height. The height of the frame is governed by the complexity of the canal at that point, such as if it is passing through a populated area, or maybe somewhat twisting. So basically each roll will show 4, 5 or 6 segments of the canal. Each segment shows about 6700 to 6800 feet, or about 1.28 miles. So if you were to cut up the map and line each section side to side, the map would show between 4.8 to 7.8 miles of canal. These maps have been digitized. This divides the map into smaller bite-sized chunks of 10 to 30 plus images. Additional images were made of the locks and other notable features with a tighter lens and this adds to the number of images per roll.
(map-layout)
Here is a remarkable image made by Steven Talbot, where he pieced together all the images to create a roll. You can view Steven’s map work with this link.
We know the survey process used for these maps as it was outlined in the Annual Report. The Erie, Oswego and Champlain canals were divided into 28 sections that had an average length of 18 miles. (Note- these are not the eleven canal maintenance sections that are mentioned in the annual reports. These sections were only used for the 1895 canal improvement survey and later the 1896 maps.) Over 200 men were pulled from the civil service lists to act as assistant engineers, rod men, chain men, ax men, levelers and laborers. The work began in January 1896 and lasted throughout what they all said was a very harsh winter. The teams first laid out a base line (the red line) with stations every 100 feet using the Ramsden Engineers chain, or Paines steel measuring tape.xi All measurements on the maps are shown in feet and inches.
Selected stations, or a point of measurement, were tied to the ground by the use of bench marks. These bench marks ranged from iron spikes driven in between the stonework of canal structures, telephone poles, corners of buildings, fence posts, iron rods or wooden pegs driven into the ground, and more. Although the red line continued to be the inside edge of the towpath, to make it easier to work and set up the equipment, the line was “off-set” to the middle of the towpath. The off-set is shown on the maps with green ink. Once the red, and green, lines and stations had been established, the teams went back to run cross sections every 100 feet, or so, depending on the nature of the canal and what had to be removed or modified.
A big departure from the earlier maps was that each of the 24 sections were measured as one unit. The survey began at the east boundary line and worked to the western end. These measurements are show along the green line as small circles with a corresponding green numbering as needed to mark the location of structures, to aid the count, or bench marks. It appears that bench marks are noted as small triangles. So keep in mind that if you want to use these maps to locate a structure, the station count will reset to 0.00 23 times. I note this because in1905, Nobel Whitford also used the 100-foot-stations for measurements in his “Tables of Existing Structures On Canals.”xii However, he used a continuous measurement beginning at the Hudson River.xiii The blue lines are inferred by connecting the ends of the cross sections.
(diagram-003)
The 1896 maps. The blue line has been left out to make it easier to read.
As with the Hutchinson maps, these are very useful in showing the built and natural environs around the canal. The Archives listing says that, “In addition they show: city, town and county lines; streams, rivers, bodies of water and islands; property lines, along with names of owners and sometimes acreage of land; and streets, railroad lines, businesses and civic landmarks (ice companies, mills, cemeteries, etc.).” Basically anything within a couple blocks of the canal are seen.
The maps also are very useful in showing the route and some features from the Clinton’s Ditch canal. The older canal is represented with a combination of red and blue dashed lines, and/or black ink drawings that show a “shadow” of what once there. The use of shadow lines and ink wash seem to emphasize areas of note such as locks, basins, drydocks, etc. In addition, the maps include the 1834 cross section measurements with the old chain measurements converted to feet, and the older compass bearings. It does not include any of the linear measurements between the cross sections. Maybe this would have made the maps too busy, or perhaps Schillner felt it was unnecessary as anyone who needed them could simply pull out the old 1834 maps? The old canal does tend to wander off the Schillner maps in places where the two canal routes diverged, but it always comes back. It does appear that Clinton’s Ditch was added in the office and not surveyed.
Two of the 1896 maps of Clyde. If you look at the end of Lock Street, you can see the Clinton’s Ditch lock as a shadow. This is also the section of canal that was shown with the field book bench marks. Mack’s store is where the two maps are joined. (Merged by author, Roll 30 01_DSC0130.jpg and Roll 31 25_DSC0140.jpg. Cropped to fit.)
Although the work on the canal improvement was ordered to stop on March 8, 1898, the work on the maps continued as the state needed up-to-date maps. The Middle Division engineer noted that in addition to the work on the estimates, the survey teams were also gathering information that would be used by the State Board of Claims in defense of lawsuits that would very likely be lodged against the state for damages. He somewhat hopefully added that the survey data cold be used to; “create new set of canal maps, as there has been many changes in the canals since the enlargement which are not recorded on the maps now in use.”xiv Maybe he knew something was in the works. In 1921, Anson Getman, wrote that in 1896, George L. Schillner had, “commenced a compilation of all maps of all lands which had been acquired for canal purposes to that time,” and that the Canal Law of 1894 ordered “the preparation of complete manuscript maps and field notes of every canal then or thereafter.”xv So it certainly appears that Schillner and the others were working under two or more of these laws that were addressing different issues. You will also find these maps as being completed under Chapter 569, Laws of 1899. which was an act making appropriations for certain expenses of government and supplying deficiencies in former appropriations. One of the many projects listed was; “For the state engineer and surveyor, for completing new blue line maps of the Erie, Oswego and Champlain canals,…”
Getman noted that the work on the maps took 12 years, ending in 1908. Schillner’s name appears on other projects during this time, so the maps were not his only job. Getman also noted that the maps had not been certified by the State Engineer or approved by the canal board, so they “bear no endorsement.”
Getman might be the first person to add George Schillner’s name to the maps. Perhaps the maps were George’s pet project and the guys in the office just started to call them the Schillner maps? No one says. In 1939, the 1896 maps were introduced as evidence in the case Northern New York Power vs New York State, as the “Schillner Maps.”xvi This is odd as there is no mention of the 1910 maps. But being used as evidence in a trial seems to show that the court accepted the maps as somewhat “certified.”
By the time the 1896 maps were complete, the state was deep into the Barge Canal project. The maps, as nice as they were, showed a canal system that was disappearing.
The 1910 Blue Line Maps
Amazing, for all the work that went into the 1896 maps, they were never certified by the state. Instead the state passed Chapter 199 of the Laws of 1910, which was; “An act to provide for the mapping of certain canal lands and the lands adjacent thereto belonging to the state.” This act was certainly in response to the pending abandonment of the old canals as the new Barge Canal was brought into use. Within a couple years, the state would be in the position to begin selling off these lands and they needed a certified legal survey and map that would become part of the record. The 1910 Annual Report notes states that the only “official” canal map was the 1834 Holmes Hutchinson map, and that the purpose of the 1910 Act was to re-establish the boundaries of the canals that were being enlarged into the Barge Canal system.xvii
The Archives listing says; “This series consists of whiteprint copies of original survey maps, commonly referred to as “blue line maps,” of land appropriated by the State for canal purposes. The maps depict in minute detail lands acquired for canal purposes up to and including the time of construction of the Barge Canal. The Department of Public Works (earlier the State Engineer and Surveyor) produced and retained the original maps and submitted whiteprint copies to the Comptroller and Secretary of State. This set of maps was filed with the Comptroller. Laws of 1910 (Chapter 199) and 1917 (Chapter 51) authorized the production of “blue line maps” (the blue lines indicated boundaries of State-owned lands along the Erie, Champlain, Oswego, Black River, and Cayuga and Seneca canals) to minimize property disputes resulting from the construction of the Barge Canal. The maps depict inner angles of the towpaths on the old canal; property owned by the State prior to Barge Canal construction; property appropriated by the State for the Barge Canal project; locations of the old canal lines; location of the proposed Barge Canal; and various structures, roads, streets, and other landmarks and the names of owners of private property adjacent to the canal.”xviii A quick count of the maps showed 1029 maps in 71 volumes. The scale used was one inch equals 100 feet. The maps have a key, which is needed as the volumes do not run in sequential order.
Before the survey crews were assigned, the office of the state engineer made “survey” of what records they already had on file. In addition to the 1834 maps and field books, the 1869 maps were examined, and the “rolled maps” and ‘Nine Million’ surveys, which were called the “most valuable compilation existing,” but were also not considered to be of much value.xix One of the issues was that the older surveys and maps used compass bearings that were magnetic and not off the true meridian. And as the canal was so long, other factors such as the curvature of the earth had to be accounted for. All new surveys had to be conducted to re-establish the red and blue lines.
As they conducted the surveys, the teams used three-quarter inch iron pins to mark points on the blue line boundaries, and brass monuments to mark the red line. The brass plate had “ears” that were embedded into a concrete column that was eight inches round by 54 inches long. These were buried in the towpath along the red line. The top of the monument said; N.Y.S. – CANAL RED LINE MONUMENT, with blank spaces where the survey team would use a hand punch to add the station measurement and offset. (Sadly most of these have ended up in collectors hands over the years. Any that remained were plowed up by the contractors during the construction of the Empire State Trail.)
Two of the red line monuments in the collection of the Lock 52 Historical Society of Port Byron, NY.
By comparing the 1896 and 1910 maps, certain stations can be found on both, however the noted measurements do differ. Plus, the 1910 maps used two methods to establish base, red and blue lines, and the title page should be consulted if you are taking a deep dive into the measurements. The big difference between the Hutchinson and Schillner maps, and the 1910 maps, is that the blue line was surveyed and monuments placed so that; “Blue line points can be relocated by using the data shown on the map.”
The 1910 maps vary in what canal side features are shown. For instance, the little village of Pattersonville is noted, but few buildings are seen, while 3 miles away, the details for the village of Rotterdam Junction are a bit more robust. The maps also take an interesting approach to the new Barge Canal. The new Barge Canal Lock 10, dam 6 is shown fully constructed, however Lock 8, dam 4 is not even noted, and Lock 11, dam 7 merely shows up as dam piers.xx This is a bit odd as the work on the maps went on into the 1920s, so they certainly had time to update the maps and show the full lock and dam structures.
The 1910 Blue Line map of Rotterdam Junction. Lock 25 can be seen. (Set A BK_1_62.jpg)
The work went on for over 14 years. In the Annual Report of 1924, the State Engineer wrote that the work was almost complete. He said, “It is not a simple process, however, to prepare these lands for sale. Extensive surveys have to be made, maps must be prepared, and in these activities precautions taken which will insure accuracy of the surveys and correct descriptions of the lands. In preparing for the surveys it is necessary to examine old maps and deeds back to the first canals of the state, nearly one hundred years ago, when surveying and mapping was not the exact science it is today. In addition to the men required to examine the titles and plot the lands, survey parties are required to define the lands in the field, and others to prepare blue line maps for the Canal Board and to follow these with abandonment maps and descriptions. To survey one mile of old canal in a month is a good average rate of progress for a field surveying party.”xxi However, he added that the costs of mapping were not as high as continued maintenance of the old canal lands.
For those who wish to know everything about the maps, you might be wondering what the crosses with the numbers might be. I asked someone who used to use these maps in his day to day job, and he thought it might be part of a quadrant system that was tied to a master map. But he honestly wasn’t sure.
In Conclusion
If you have made it this far, congratulations, for you are a real map geek!
I picked these four map sets as they offer the most comprehensive view of the canals, its structures and canal side neighborhoods. However, the New York State Archives listing of maps is very extensive. There are over 140 volumes of maps in B0292 alone, with a great many of these dated between 1850 and 1880. So even if one of these sets missed a canal you are interested in, there is likely a map of it in the collection. Also, remember that other repositories will often have these maps, so be sure to check with the Canal Society of New York State or the Erie Canal Museum.
Steven Talbot has a great mapping webpage at Enlarged Erie Canal Map Viewer and he also helped me out with this article, so please take a look at what we has done.
And if you are a surveyor, and I got something wrong, please contact me!
Here is a comparison showing Sprakers, NY, with three of the four maps.
The Hutchinson map of Sprakers. The canal crossed Flat Creek on a small slack-water pool . You can see where Ferry and Clinton Streets ran up to the basin. (crop of 97 Erie HH Map Root & Canajoharie)
The Schillner map of Sprakers. The canal runs across the page while Flat creek runs from bottom to top. The canal crosses the creek on Aqueduct 9 and Enlarged Lock 31 is just to the right. Just above the lock is the boundary line that divides sections 4 and 5. The old line of Clinton’s Ditch can be seen curving across the top and note the outline of the basin. The line of the West Shore railroad runs across the bottom of the map. (Roll 10 Root and Canajoharie- 19_DSC9115.jpg)
The 1910 Blue Line Maps of Sprakers. The large circles note the location of bench-marks, and the map contains many measurements and compass headings. It also makes note of the old Clinton’s Ditch locks, something that the Schillner maps missed. (crop of Set FF BK3_110.jpg)
iJohn B. Jervis. The Reminiscences of John B. Jervis; Engineer of the Old Croton. Syracuse University Press. 1971
iiWilliam C. Young. Reminiscences of Surveys of The Erie Canal In 1816-17. Canal Enlargement In New York State. Buffalo Historical Society Publications, Vol. 13. 1909. Page 333.
iiiA0848. Canal system survey maps (“Holmes Hutchinson maps”), 1832-1843. 19 cu. ft. (26 volumes) The maps are available on the NYS Archives website. Search for the series number.
ivB0292, in various volumes; 31, 38, 43, 47, 57, 67, 75, 100.
vB0253. Barge Canal sectional maps (“Schillner Maps”), ca. 1896. ca. 132 cu. ft. (71 maps)
viA0867. Whiteprint copies of maps of lands permanently appropriated by the State for canal purposes (“blue line maps”), 1917-1948. 28 cu. ft. (69 portfolios containing ca. 850 maps)
viiFor those who are interested, Philip L. Lord, Jr., wrote an excellent book on reading old surveys and how they were conducted. Mills on the Tsatsawassa, The State Education Department, 1983.
viiiWhat the Blue Line Is. The Argus, Albany, NY. April 23, 1891. Page 4.
ixHenry Gannett. The Mapping of New York State. Journal of the American Geographical Society of New York, Vol. XXVII, 1895. Page 22,
xThe full text of Chapter 79 can be found in the Annual Report of the State Engineer and Surveyor, Fiscal Year Ending September 30, 1895, Wynkoop Hallenbeck Crawford and Company, Albany, 1896, pages 6 – 11.
xi The NYS Archives mistakenly says that Schillner measured the canal using the surveyors 66-foot-chain.
xiiiIt is easy to convert these stations to feet or miles by using ((station x 100)) / 5280). (Example- Station 528.89 times 100 equals 52889 feet divided by 5280 equals 10.02 miles.)
xivAnnual Report of the State Engineer and Surveyor, For the year 1896. page 450.
xvAnson Getman, Principles and Sources of Title To Real Property, Matthew Bender and Company, Albany, 1921. Page 53.
xviNorthern New York Power Corporation vs State of New York, Court of Appeals, 1939, Exhibit No. 116, “Certified copy of Map on file in the Department of the State Engineer and Surveyor, and commonly known as the 1896 or Schillner Map.”
xviiReport of Resurveying the Blue Line, Annual Report of the State Engineer and Surveyor, J.B. Lyon and Company, Albany, 1911. Page 282
xviiiFA05. The Mighty Chain: A Guide to Canal Records in the New York State Archives. 1992
xixReport of Resurveying the Blue Line, Annual Report of the State Engineer and Surveyor, J.B. Lyon and Company, Albany, 1911. Page 282
On April 6, 2022, Terry sent out this column. He introduced it by writing;
In going through my listing of columns, I noticed that I haven’t had one for awhile on the Sandy & Beaver, so I’ve resurrected these notes from a hike made in early June 1971, where I made a momentous discovery (to me) and also got terribly lost – fortunately the only time I did.
Max Gard did a tremendous job putting out his book on the Sandy & Beaver in 1952 before a lot of the data on the exact route of that canal became available. It is still a very accurate history. But I soon discovered when hiking the western division that Max’s guide, in several places, didn’t make sense. Then in the early 1990s, I believe someone “discovered” in the moldering files of an 1854 Lisbon newspaper, a listing of the parcels the Sandy & Beaver Canal had been auctioned off in to pay part of their debts. Now it, and Max’s guide are twin bibles to any hiker of the Sandy & Beaver canal. But I didn’t have the list of parcels then, so all I had was Max’s guide and my own sense of direction. Which failed me utterly during that hike in 1971.
That hike took place before I had seen the parcels, and when I discovered, what I later identified as Dam 9, and a stretch of canal of about a mile in slack water, I didn’t know what to make of it. There are still, even with the list of parcels and miles and miles of hiking that division, several sections that I can’t figure out, but I wrote a guide to the western division and made it available in the mid 1990s.
This hike was the first time, I believe, I was into this section of the western division of the Sandy & Beaver Canal. I was still driving my 1964 ½ Ford Mustang so I probably parked it at the Crossroads Shopping Center at the north-east corner of Route 800 and Route #183. There was an access road of some kind down into the flats just a bit south of that intersection toward the east. I may have taken it, as I did on a lot of subsequent hikes.
A section of the 1912 Historical Topographic Map Collection. Terry would have parked just to the right of the 939 at the top center and walked east along the creek.
Everything was very wet and mucky down in this area which had been only minimally disturbed by the construction of the “new” (1935) concrete Route 800 bridge across the Big Sandy Creek. The bridge was a result of the construction in the mid 1930s of several flood control dams in the area. One was built across the Big Sandy east of Bolivar and another one across the Tuscarawas north of Dover.
The hike at first wasn’t that strenuous once I got through the muck and wet to the canal towpath. There was a gas pipeline buried in the towpath and legends of “pipe-line walkers” over the years scanning the line for problems had left a clear trail for me. I got about 2 ½ miles in, at the point where the gas pipe line crossed from the right bank of the creek to the left. The canal had been quite evident all along here, and it contained a lock site (#28) that I don’t believe I noticed in this hike.
Just a little bit prior to this pipe-line crossing point was an ‘L’ shaped earth wall with heavy stone rip-rap on the creek side of the canal’s towpath that was mentioned in Max Gard’s Guide to the Sandy &Beaver Canal. It was in remarkably good condition and the action of the “L”, on the west end of the wall had ‘shoved’ the creek a bit to the south and away from the canal. I was thrilled at the discovery.
At that time I also thought I had “discovered” a lock site, (Max had mentioned Lock #28 was also in this area). Just to the north east of the earthen wall, was a site that had all the characteristics of a long-abandoned canal lock, narrow channel with higher earth walls, and numerous small bits of stone scattered about the channel. I later did find the location of Lock #28 was a good distance west, and I have never determined just what this site was, if anything.
The memorable part of this hike, though, was that, shortly after continuing on toward the east from this spot, I got terribly disoriented and “turned around”, and dismally LOST! East of this point there didn’t appear to be the clear trail of the pipe-line walkers that I had been following all the way in from Route #800. I was forced to leave the line of canal and move slightly to my right (south) and skirt the creek. Then, in trying to move back north to pick up the canal line again, I ran into, almost literally, an earthen embankment with some stone rip-rap running in front of me, but running at an angle that didn’t say, “canal embankment”.
I got to the top of this embankment and found a water filled channel in front of me running off to my right and left. I seem to remember following it to my right for a short distance and discovering it ended at a fast moving stream – the Big Sandy! What was that doing here? That discovery completely turned me around. If I had been following the canal, this embankment should have paralleled the canal, not run into it!
I retraced my steps and got to a point where I could cross the channel and I tried to move as directly east as I could. But I found nothing except a tree-choked area, with the towpath embankment turned into an 1899 railroad lineii, no old canal channel, nothing but this embankment and a flat, tree-filled expanse.
But, I did hear the sound of what I thought was a “one-lung” gasoline motor, chugging away slowly, but steadily somewhere to my left front and above me – up on that ridge to my left somewhere. I turned to my left and began climbing a rather steep embankment. I kept climbing and the “chug, chug, chug” kept chuging. I had quite a climb, but I finally achieved my objective, an automatic and unattended oil pumping station. AND, there was an access road leading away from it. I was overjoyed. An access road probably would lead me to a real road and I could find out where I was in relation to the shopping center and my car. I followed it. It was a long trek, but down-hill and I believed north. Finally, I came out to a site I was familiar with – an octagon-shaped building that I had passed several times. It was located on the north side of Route #183, maybe three miles east of the Cross-Roads Shopping Center!
So now I knew where I was and could at least now head in the right direction to retrieve my car. I did finally reach the shopping center and my Mustang. I got into it, gratefully and tired. And went home!
I’ve made a number of additional hikes into that area over the years and discovered that the embankment was actually the remains of the Sandy & Beaver’s western division Dam No. 9 and that east of that point, for nearly a mile, the canal had been in slack water, so the only evidence of it was a towpath/railroad bed hugging the line of the steep hillside to the north. And that towpath/railroad bed hadn’t been very easy to see with all the trees in the area.
Still, I’ve never forgotten that particular hike and that particular feeling of being completely lost with my sense of direction utterly gone. Fortunately, that is a feeling I never had again while hiking.
i These notes are being typed in February of 2020, ,many, many years after the original hike, from a few memories and several references to this hike in subsequent hike notes.
ii The line of canal from just east of Sandyville toward the east (with a sidecut branch to Magnolia) was covered by a Baltimore & Ohio branch line constructed in 1899 to service the Magnolia Coal Company and also [provided a “combine Car” passenger service to a “station: adjacent to the Elson Mill in Magnolia. This branch line was operational until 1922.
