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I'd venture that it was used to mark the location of a navigation beacon. The canal system includes sections that were not dug but rather follow natural water courses... as such you could "get lost" or otherwise run into things, or aground, in many places along the canal. I took a mule powered barge ride one time but otherwise haven't been on the canal's water. I rode a bicycle the length of it... and also rode major sections (e.g., Buffalo to Little Falls, Syracuse to Albany). I found that the interpretative signage along the way tells an interesting story. I was also aware of the web sites related to it. http://www.canals.ny.gov/Navinfo/index.htmlhttp://www.canals.ny.gov/wwwapps/navinfo/navinfo.aspx?waterway=eriewestern
Quote from: GrizG on June 27, 2020, 10:21:14 PMI'd venture that it was used to mark the location of a navigation beacon. The canal system includes sections that were not dug but rather follow natural water courses... as such you could "get lost" or otherwise run into things, or aground, in many places along the canal. I took a mule powered barge ride one time but otherwise haven't been on the canal's water. I rode a bicycle the length of it... and also rode major sections (e.g., Buffalo to Little Falls, Syracuse to Albany). I found that the interpretative signage along the way tells an interesting story. I was also aware of the web sites related to it. http://www.canals.ny.gov/Navinfo/index.htmlhttp://www.canals.ny.gov/wwwapps/navinfo/navinfo.aspx?waterway=eriewesternThanks for those links Griz, I did find some information about a white number sign that was on a tree along the bank where I was, and that sign is exactly where it showed it was on the charts for the Eastern Erie Canal. But that metal Beacon Marker still has me stumped. What beacon? Is it a radio beacon? A light beacon? Something else? Was this attached to a floating bouy, or mounted along the shoreline? Is it just a cool find or is it worth millions? Who knows?