Black River Lock #1 in Rome, NY

(Satellite, it is a little east of where the Black River Canal joined the Erie Canal.)

Black River Overview

Locks 2-6 are also under today's Black River Blvd.

Rome Historical Society - Friends of the Fort posted two images with the comment: "Here is a original black-and-white photo and an AI colorized photo. I know some people don't like the AI colorized photos. But it seems like the majority does enjoy them. You be the judge."

Cori Willson shared with the comment:

In this photo from the Rome Historical Society, the Minnie Matton—the last boat built specifically for the Black River Canal—rests below  BRC Lock #1 in Rome. Still relatively new, it was left idle when the canal’s operations wound down, ending its owner’s livelihood.

The scene captures a serene yet poignant moment in the waterway’s twilight years, before later filling-in and removals (such as the Dominick Street Bridge) altered similar views.

Spanning 35 miles with a record 109 locks (highest density of locks in the shortest distance among historic canals—a world record it still holds, with those 109 locks packed into just 35 miles (about 3.1 locks per mile), this remarkable Erie Canal feeder linked the Mohawk Valley to the North Country from the 1850s until the state abandoned it, with the final boats passing Boonville to Rome in August 1924.

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