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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Hudson River Lightkeeper posted
Canal Favorites - Black River Canal

1904 4,350' (1,326m) Aban/Western Maryland Indigo Tunnel and C&O Canal Lock near Little Orleans, MD

West Portal: (Satellite)

East Portal: (Satellite)

C&O Canal Overview

Josephh, Aug 2024

Western Maryland evidently prefered timber lined tunnels because that is what they also used for the Stickpile (Greenridge) Tunnel.

Rachel Ray, Sep 2019

p rembisz, Jul 2025

This was Western Maryland's longest tunnel. Linda points to the black blob in the upper-left corner and says that is the top of the tunnel. So this must be the east portal, and the Josephh bat-gated portal at the top of these notes must be the west portal.

Facebook Reel

1951 Artemas and Bellegrove Quads @ 24,000

A reminder that the C&O Canal shared the Potomac River route with the Western Maryland on the Maryland side of the river. The B&O used the West Virginia side of the river until they built their Magnolia Cutoff.

p rembisz

1914 Lift and Truss Bridges over Barge and Enlarged Erie Canals in Medina, NY

Prospect Lift: (Archived Bridge Hunter; Bridge Hunter; no Historic Bridges; Satellite)

Glenwood Truss: (Archived Bridge Hunter; Bridge Hunter; no Historic Bridges; Satellite)

Horan Truss: (Archived Bridge Hunter; Bridge Hunter; no Historic Bridges; Satellite)

Erie Canal Overview

The Barge Canal used the same route as the Erie Canal through Medina.

Prospect Lift Bridge

Looking East:

2009 Photo by James Baughn via BridgeHunter_prospect

Looking West:

Richard Torbett, Sep 2022

Dane Kantner, May 2018

Glenwood Truss Bridge

Street View, Aug 2025

They must drain the canal in the Winter.

2020 Photo by Josh Schmid via BridgeHunter_glenwood, cropped

1914 is in the transition period between pin connected and riveted gussets. Most bridge designers choose one method or the other. These trusses used both.

Street View, Aug 2025

2009 Photo by James Baughn via BridgeHunter_glenwood, cropped

Horan Truss Bridge

Street View, Jun 2023

Josh was also intrigued by the hybrid pin-connected and rivet-gusseted design.

2020 Photo by Josh Schmid via BridgeHunter_horan

I learned of this bridge from photos of the Medina Falls and Erie Canal Aqueduct.

Max Wang, Aug 2021

Lost Chadwick Street Bridge

Craig Lacy posted
The Chadwick Street bridge east of Medina connecting State Street to Horan Road seen in 1913.  This bridge was removed and another relocated further west as part of the barge canal project.  A typical  Whipple type bridge.

Lost Church Street Bridge

Craig Lacy posted three images with the comment:

A few views of the "Big Bend" or Medina Loop as seen from the tower of White's Hotel looking east and the Church Street Bridge looking west sometime prior to 1913.  The Church Street bridge and much of the embankment seen disappeared during the Barge Canal expansion.

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Basin

Craig Lacy posted
One of the "Fruit Express" boats is docked in Medina's basin.  White's Hotel with its 70 foot [21.3m] high clock tower located on North Main Street is in the background. The hotel burned in 1923.

Medina Falls and Barge & Erie Canal Aqueducts over Oak Orchard Creek at Medina, NY

Medina Falls: (Satellite)

Aqueduct: (Satellite)

Erie Canal Overview

The Barge Canal used the same route as the Erie Canal through Medina, so this is the aqueduct location for both canals.

Craig Lacy posted two photos with the comment: "The canal aqueduct crossing Oak Orchard Creek in Medina as it was in 1902.   Notice the side extension on the second picture for the towpath to cross over."

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nycanalmap
"Medina Falls is a 40 plunge from a shelf of limestone that flows under the Erie Canal just east of Medina. An aqueduct here carries the Erie Canal and Erie Canalway Trail over Oak Orchard Creek, which flows under the canal. The best view is from the Erie Canalway Trail."

John Kucko Digital posted
America the Beautiful:  One of my favorite spots along the Erie Canal—Medina, NY in Orleans County.  The historic waterway side by side with Oak Orchard Creek and the Medina Falls—a 40 foot cascade.  It’s one of my favorite drone views captured with my drone.  Captured this six years ago today [Jul 12, 2026].

Mike Beach: The only town in the state where both a river AND a road go under the canal! Both are awesome sites. Thanks for sharing John Kucko Digital!

[Medina Culvert is where a road goes under the canal. That is the only road that goes under the Barge Canal.]

Denise Hannon commented on John's post
We love to kayak here. Thanks for posting the aerial photo, here is a quick phone pic from my latest paddle to the falls last week.

Jamie Reisman commeted on John's post

My twins were trying to see who could get to the falls 1st Saturday ☺️

michael drahms, Jul 2021

2020 Photo by Josh Schmid via Bridge Hunter via Dennis DeBruler

Craig Lacy posted eight photos with the comment: "Construction on the canal in Medina between 1913-1915. Views of constructing the aqueduct, the completed top, concrete frames for the 60’ high retaining wall, the new waste weir and some fool standing on the completed spillway.  Crossing Oak Orchard Creek in Medina was one of the most engineered, time consuming and costly projects of the barge canal expansion."

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Craig Lacy posted
Medina's original aqueduct, barge canal replacement under construction and the finished product.

Charles Ilardi commented on Craig's post
Present-day view from the top

Burned UP/C&EI Bridge over Middle Fork Big Muddy River north of West Frankfort, IL

(no Bridge Hunter; no Historic Bridges; Satellite)

WFCN News - Swinford Media Group posted

UPDATE: Union Pacific Railroad is working to repair a main railway line that was heavily damaged following an overnight fire in Franklin County.

The fire destroyed a segment of railway along the Big Muddy River bridge approximately 0.65 miles north of the West Frankfort city limits.

All rail traffic has been temporarily halted while crews work to repair the damaged section of railway. Firefighters spent much of early Monday morning continuing to battle the fire by using both water and foam to fully extinguish it.

There is currently no estimated timeline on how long the section of railway will be closed. The railway line connects into larger freight routes to the north and south, and runs through local communities such as Mount Vernon, Benton, and Marion.

1963/64 West Frankfort Quad @ 24,000

Collapsed 1975 and Extant 1919 Bridges over Canadian River at Calvin, OK

1919: (Archived Bridge Hunter; Bridge Hunter; no Historic Bridges; Satellite)

1975+1978: (Satellite) 1978 is my guess as to when the replacement bridge was finished.

I thought this was an bogus AI photo until I read the comments.

The collapse happened on May 21, 1976. [greenspun]

Note that the 1975 bridge stood for just a year or so before it fell down!

I thought this photo was bogus because there is no pier between the middle two collapsed spans. I guess the bridge collapsed because the pier disappeared. But how does a pier disappear?

Lunna Lucky posted
Bridge collapse Calvin OK

There were two fatalities.

newspapers, paycount of 5

I can't find any information about the cause of the collapse. 

"On May 28, 1976, the Commission authorized the Highway Department to contract with consulting firm Modjeski and Masters to perform an independent and unbiased investigation into the cause of the US-75 bridge collapse north of Calvin." [odot]

Has ODOT scrubbed all copies of that report off the internet?

1913 Bridge

I'll bet the locals were really glad that they didn't quickly tear down the old bridge after the new one was built. They at least had this old bridge to use while the new one was repaced.

Street View, May 2022

This view shows that the river was rather high in the above view. It also shows that the bridge has four spans.

Street View, Jan 2026

When I zoomed in to confirm that the bridge is pin connected, I noticed the bridge in the background. It is an abandoned railroad bridge.

Street View, Jan 2026

And the river is even lower in this photo.

OKbridges, this webpage has more photos
"This bridge was one of the earliest state-standardized designs built in Oklahoma, and other bridges exist similar in design. The state-standardized designs represented a trend towards heavier bridges than the ones commonly built from the catalogs of bridge companies."

Street View, Jun 2013