A Little Delay, in Little Falls

Guess where we are?

Yes, you guessed it right.

We are in the same spot today, as we were yesterday, which means we are "stranded" but in a very nice marina at the Rotary Park in Little Falls, NY. We could not ask for a better place for our journey to be delayed. This park was recently renovated and is a mariners dream for stopping (or in our case stranded) on the Erie Canal. It has power and water for boat hookup as well as nice clean washrooms, shower facilities, a laundry room with an honor payment system, as well as sitting and reading areas for boaters use.

How Nice !

We have been here 2 days and there are 9 other boaters here as well, because the canal has been shutdown since last Wednesday. It is a bit of a hike into the town of Little Falls, but we need the exercise, after sitting on a boat for the better part of a complete week. We were not sure how long we may be stranded but we decided to take it one day at a time and hopefully make it to NYC yet, in reasonable time. We are at least 4 days from the Big Apple and are now going to be late for our marina reservation in NY but I called the Hudson Point Marina and they will do their best to accommodate us when we arrive - they understood the delay.

We arrived in Little Falls, a town of 4,500 people, around noon Sunday, and we made a quick tie-down of the boat, and then walked into town. I took a two part video of our walk to show you how this town was situated between rock cliffs on both sides of the canal system.

The town is situated on the Mohawk River at a point at which rapids had impeded travel upriver. They constructed the Erie Canal in 1825 through this part of the valley and connected the Great Lakes with the Hudson River. It is a picturesque location featuring the slopes of a narrow and rocky area, through which the Mohawk River falls 45 feet in less than a mile.

With dairy farms located through-out the town, Little Falls became a major center for the manufacturing of cheese in the 19th century and most was shipped to markets in New Yok City and overseas. In those days, they shipped 380,000 lbs. of cheese a day, to New York City. It also provided immigrant workers from the eastern and southern parts of Europe, to work in factories for textiles, gloves and other products. In the 19th century a gentleman named David Burrell, founded the Burrell Manufacturing Company and made equipment in a factory alongside the canal for the dairy industry. Today, this factory is owned by Feldmeier and provides tanks and process equipment for the dairy, food and pharmaceutical industries and is a supplier to our company in Canada.

David Burrell was an American industrialist and inventor. and most of his inventions took place in his Overlook Estate in Little Falls. It was there, where he invented a seamless cheese bandage, silo tanks for the storage of milk, a Separator for milk, milk pasteurization systems, churns for butter, milk testers and coolers. He also patented the first practical oil burner in 1885 and 100 years later, President Regan officially proclaimed 1985 to be "Oil Heat Centennial Year" to honor Burrell.

His mansion, better known as Overlook, and situated on the hills overlooking the canal and valley, is a historic home and was built in 1889. It is a three-story asymmetrical masonry building featuring three full height towers, a carriage house and a caretakers cottage. It was paired to the power generating station on the canal and today, it still gets it's electric power from that source. It features 12 bedrooms, and 9 bathrooms with incredible architectural details. It has an indoor swimming pool and a bowling alley. Located on 15 acres, in recent years it became a Bed & Breakfast for those passing through the valley but the owner died and it is now for sale.

For more info go to https://www.6sqft.com/inventor-d-h-burrells-725k-little-neck-mansion-will-transport-you-back-to-the-victorian-age/

A David Burrell Portrait in City Hall Chambers

We spent our first day in Little Falls walking the town and they were having a 4 day Canal Celebration weekend. Unfortunately, we missed most of the events but were able to go to the Flea Market in the park on Sunday where we met many celebrities and had a chance to pose for pictures. We also walked the streets and saw several old buildings and other features of the town. The main street had covered walkways, all the way down one side of the street with decorative pillars supporting the coverings. In the early 1900's they had trolleys running through the entire town and connected two other towns on either side of Little Falls, with the trolley lines.

Throughout the town there were many other buildings of interest including a Church, Craft Brewery, Antique Building, Shops and best of all City Hall where we toured the building, met and spoke to Deborah Kaufman the town Mayor, and went into the town council chamber. Of interest was the fact that David Burrell paid for half of the cost to build the city hall.

We visited the Little Falls Town Historical Museum, and it was full of interesting items from Herkimer Diamonds to Bass Drums belonging to an old Drum and Bugle Corps, and it was all housed in the Museum which was previously an old bank in the town. Of interest was the bank safe that was still in the building. In the safe, are two pieces of wooden pipes that had been saved from when they rebuilt the water systems in the town. If you look on top of the safe, you will see the two wooden pipes. It is hard to believe that their water system was run in wood.

At the end of the day we still had the same concerns. When would they re-open the canal so we could move on down the Erie system to NYC?

Because we really didn't get any news today regarding the re-opening of the canal, Kyle and I took the dingy to the next lock to ask the Lockmaster what he knew. Basically he didn't have any further information to make us feel better. We had no real answer yet, but what we do know is they are refilling the locks from the eastern most locks, towards where we are now so we know it will be soon.

The lock we visited today is the biggest lift on the waterway and I took some photos of the mechanism that drives opening and closing the gates, as well as the Guillotine Doorway that lifts upwards to let boats in and out of the lock. Note, the floating logs etc. that have gathered at the lock entrance.

Here are some other images of the lock itself, including the view of the Erie Canal looking East and towards the Hudson River. The view with the bridge is the waterway we will head down after exiting the lock.

It wasn't all "Touristy stuff" today. Kyle and I cleaned the dingy and boat again, and Alice (aka Cynthia) did some housekeeping which included her normal dishes task and our laundry. She did a perfect folding job all of our clothes. Good Job Alice !

Doing the Dishes.......................... Doing the Laundry ................ Finding Her Home

At the end of the day, we still have no idea when we will be able to go through the locks. The latest update is that they are filling the canals with water and will advise us when it is safe to travel. We are hoping that it is tomorrow, but until we get word, we sit with several other boaters and wait.... but its not a bad town to be stuck in.

Good Night all

No Hallman Experiences yet - at least any that we are willing to admit