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Erie Canal Artifact

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Rickhem:

--- Quote from: GrizG on June 27, 2020, 10:21:14 PM ---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.html
http://www.canals.ny.gov/wwwapps/navinfo/navinfo.aspx?waterway=eriewestern

--- End quote ---

Thanks 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?

Geezer:
I know that along the Hudson above Albany they used to use oil fired beacons (lanterns) on buoys to mark the channel. There was a tender that would refill the lanterns on a schedule. The buoy would be removed in the winter to prevent ice damage and replaced in the spring. There had to be a marker somewhere for each buoy to indicate where to put it. Perhaps this marker was for something similar in the canal. 

GrizG:

--- Quote from: Rickhem on June 28, 2020, 09:46:33 AM ---
--- Quote from: GrizG on June 27, 2020, 10:21:14 PM ---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.html
http://www.canals.ny.gov/wwwapps/navinfo/navinfo.aspx?waterway=eriewestern

--- End quote ---

Thanks 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?

--- End quote ---

I think Geezer has it right regarding lighted beacons being removed in the winter when the canal is shut down. I've seem some beacons bouy mounted, some on little steel towers, and some mounted on infrastructure (e.g., locks, bridges) but all were electric... Of course the original canal was built yesteryear, before electric lights, so some kind of oil would make sense.

cgreene:
That is an interesting find. Ive been to Erie several times and I never knew there are still artifacts like that lying around. Id love to take my metal detector in the area and try my luck.

Rickhem:
I have often wondered what kinds of things might be found with a metal detector along the banks of the canal when the water is low.  Better yet, how about all those abandonded locks from prior versions of the canal, the ones that were left behind when they altered the path and made it much wider.  There's still plenty of those abandonded locks around, often easy to find too.  As for the current canal, I think you'd end up with your detector going off every couple of feet from all the trash and other assorted metal that has been dropped overboard for the last 50+ years while boats were traversing the canal, but then again, wading through all that is how treasures are found.

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