Robert Moses Micro # 1.7.5 - Porter/Day Traditional Cache
Sapience Trek: As there's been no cache to find for months, I'm archiving it to keep it from continually showing up in search lists, and to prevent it from blocking other cache placements. If you wish to repair/replace the cache sometime in the future, just contact us (by email), and assuming it meets the guidelines, we'll be happy to unarchive it.
Robert Moses Micro # 1.7.5 - Porter/Day
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This micro cache lies midway between our Adams and Schoellkopf Micro caches in a forgotten and abandoned park on the corner of Third and Niagara Streets. It lies along a bit of history that few Niagarans know of the - namely the buried "Hydraulic Canal", which crossed through the South End of Niagara Falls from 1857-c.1962.
Enjoy this micro, has about a 60% DNF rate ...AVOID SPOILER COMMENTS IN YOUR LOG SO OTHERS CAN BE CHALLENGED...
This canal was initially 8 feet deep and 35 feet wide and about 5/6 of a mile in length. The canal's sole purpose was to supply water, and was not intended for navigation. It connected the upper Niagara River about 1/2 mile above the Falls (near today's John Daly Boulevard Parkway ramp,) and ran diagonally thru the south end before terminating at the "High Banks" about 1/4 miles upstream of the cataracts (the site of the Gorge Discovery Center). The motive power of the water falling over the 210 foot cliff provided mechanical power to industries. In 1881 the first hydroelectricity in the country was generated by Quigley's Mill which later became known as Schoellkopf Power Plant #1. This facility generated direct current electricity by channeling the water into penstocks which turned dynamos. Interestingly the power generated at first was only used to light the nearby Prospect Park and some downtown buildings, as the mills were content with producing their own power via mill wheels and belts. Direct current could only be transmitted a few miles. It was not until the early 1900's with the success of the nearby Adams Power Station that the Schoellkopf's switched to alternating current generation. Many other power stations were added on over the years until the collapse of the gorge wall.
The nexus of the idea which led to the Hydraulic Canal lies with the Porter brothers, Augustus and Peter B., pioneers of power and development of Niagara Falls. They initially in 1825 attempted to entice investors to make use of the upper rapids above Iris (Goat) Island to power their industries. This was many years before electricity and only used the water power to turn mill wheels and races as pioneered by the intrepid Joncaire for his sawmill in the 1700's. Little interest was shown, largely due to most mills being eager to set up around Buffalo, the Western terminus of the Erie Canal, which had just been completed. Augustus Porter then proposed the a hydraulic canal which would provide a nearly endless source of power to industries. The Porters did not have the finances that a construction project of such magnitude entailed - dynamite had yet to be invented so any rock blasting had to be done with gunpowder, a tedious process. The brothers did hope to reap the rewards of owning much of the land along the proposed canal route. The Porters wound up donating much of the land to make this project a reality. After several changes of ownership Horace Day actually got the canal completely completed by 1857. Port Day - the upriver end of the canal which is still present as a harborage for the icebreaker boats was named for him. Day went bankrupt funding this undertaking and the canal and all property rights sold at auction to Jacob Schoellkopf for $77,000 in 1877. Charles Gaskill's flouring mill was the first tenant of the canal but within a few years the canal flourished and many industries were lured to the gorge walls to take advantage of the cheap and unending power. The Schoellkopf Power Station also fluorished here and was added to many times over the next 60 years. By the 1940's many of the "high banks" mills and factories had relocated.
In 1956 a massive rockslide destroyed most of the Schoellkopf plant, and the state and federal governments legislated a much more massive facility. The subsequent building of the Robert Moses and Lewiston Generating Plants marked the end of an era as the Hydraulic Canal no longer was necessary, and completely filled in by the mid 1960's. Very few remnants remain, the Port Day cut from the river, and the buckling brickwork in this abandoned park evidences the sinking canal beneath. The most extant surface evidence is the stone "bridge" overpass along Second Street (just behind the bank) which the canal once passed under. Google satellite imagery of this area clearly shows the diagonal line of the canal to the northwest towards the "high bank" of the gorge.
Be sure to note the aging stone marker memorializing this historic piece of Niagara Power history :
The Grounds of this Canal
were donated by the Heirs of the Late
HON. AUGUSTUS PORTER and GEN. PETER B. PORTER
1852
In pursuance of their original design for Hydraulic purposes
the work was commenced in 1853 by a Company which failed and the
Title passed to the present owner : Horace H. Day
By whom the structures were erected and Canal completed
JULY 1, 1861
Henry L. Southard Chief Engineer
E.W. Ensign Contractor
A.R. Trew Superintendent
Log and pencil only, expect some muggles during daylight hours but you will probably go unnoticed.
REPLACE EXACTLY AS FOUND !!
For further information on the history of Niagara Power see:
Niagara Power: Volumes I and II by Edward Dean Adams (1925) : out of print, available at the public library Local History Dept.
The Power Trail - History of Hydroelectricity at Niagaraby Gawronski, Kasiskova, Schneekloth, and Yots : available at the Book Corner
Also the excellent paper Historic Background at Niagara Falls : The Porters
by P.M. Eckel available here:
http://www.mobot.org/plantscience/ResBot/Niag/Hist2/Porters.htm
First to Find = Tucci's Team / Kamp Kaos
First DNF = Tucci's Team ;)
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
1. Fb znal evtug natyrf!
2. Nobhg 12 vapurf sebz gur tebhaq
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