The lower row of arches held the Erie Canal Aqueduct from 1842 to 1919. The upper row of arches was added during the 1920s to carry Broad Street across the river.
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| Street View, Jun 2017 |
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| HistoricBridges and BridgeHunter Structure as seen in 1890. |
Note the contrast in river levels in the two historical photos.
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| c1906 photo, credit: LoC from Detroit Publishing Co. via BridgeHunter |
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| Postcard via BridgeHunter |
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| A Taste of Upstate New York posted I think this 1910 color postcard of the Erie Canal going through Rochester is AMAZING! Dan Tucker: How/when was the canal rerouted? Seems inefficient. Why not just keep it where it was? Just curious and interested in its history. I mean this city has a canal, a large river and a Great Lake running through it, yet little to no development It’s a public and commercial gold mine that just sits there untapped. John Wright: The Erie Canal had a major enhancement in 1918 - widened and deepened - and renamed the Barge Canal. Widening the canal through the city wasn't practical and the Rochester merchants had transitioned from canal to rail for shipping their bulk goods. At Pittsford, the canal continued straight instead of turning north toward the city (you can still see the set of old locks behind Pittsford Plaza). The Barge Canal was vital for moving goods during WWII - and ship hulls were even built in Pittsford and floated down the canal to be fitted out in NYC. Barges replaced packet boats and as a kid I could hear the thump-thump-thump of the diesel tug boats from my bedroom window in Pittsford (circa 1950's). Rail, trucks/Thruway, air and pipelines made barges obsolete. It's nice to see how the canal has transitioned from an eyesore to a cross-state park and bolstered the old canal towns! And it's heartening to see how Rochester has enhanced the Genesee River as it flows from Genesee Valley Park to the Lake. |
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| Frank A. Kruppenbacher posted |
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| Justin Buonaccorso commented on the above post 1880s... looking the opposite direction, towards South Ave (called South St Paul St at the time), from the Fitzhugh St bridge: |
Alex Fleissig posted two photos with the comment:
Genesee Aqueduct, 1897 and 2025The Erie Canal’s second aqueduct over the Genesee River was constructed in 1836-1842. In 1927 the canal bed in downtown Rochester was converted to a subway system, and a road for automobile traffic was build on top of the aqueduct. This structure became what we now call the Broad Street Bridge.The subway system was abandoned in 1956.
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| 2 [Several comments mentioned that downtown Rochester is now "dead." No people is one thing, but no cars is hard to imagine.] |
As mentioned, the canal was moved south of town in 1919, and it now crosses the river here. I fired up the time machine to see where the canal used to cross the river.
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| 1895/95 Rochester Quad @ 62,500 |
4 of 11 photos posted by Yvonne Wall with the comment: "Erie Canal Aqueduct over Genesee River 3 postcards. I was paddling on the canal yesterday and heading toward New London yesterday and then a few more past pictures I took on the canal."
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