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The original 1825 "Clinton's Ditch" canal went right through downtown Rochester and crossed the Genesee River on a major aqueduct (see the first four images below). The first enlargement of the canal (1836-1862) largely followed the same path, but replaced the original aqueduct, which leaked, with a new, improved aqueduct which still exists today in the guise of the Broad Street Bridge. The last enlargement of the canal (1903-1918), the Erie Barge Canal, bypassed Rochester, and now goes south of the city across and through the Genesee River.

• Old Lithographs, Paintings, Woodcuts, Etc.
• Contemporary Photographs from Rochester Images of the Central Library of Rochester and Monroe County
• The Genesee River Aqueduct
• The Broad Street Bridge
• The Rochester Weighlock
• The Erie Canal in the City of Rochester
• The Barge Canal
• Early 20th-century photographs of Rochester and the Erie Canal Aqueduct from the Library of Congress American Memory Project
• Early Photographs of Rochester and the Erie Canal Aqueduct from Other Sources
• The Erie Canal in Rochester on Postcards

(click on the image below to see the full-size version)

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Old Lithographs, Paintings, Woodcuts, Etc.

Plan of the first aqueduct carrying the Erie Canal over the Genesee River at Rochester, New York / printed by Everard Peck, ca. 1823. (engraving, b&w ; 3 x 6 in.) - From: Rochester Public Library Local History Division picture file. -- Drawn before the completion of the aqueduct, and showing only seven of the eleven arches. The point of view is on the west river bank, north of the structure, looking southeast.	"View of the Aqueduct bridge at Rochester", by James Eights, 1824. From "A Geological and Agricultural Survey of the District Adjoining the Erie Canal in the State of New York" by Stephen Rensselaer (Printed by Packard & Van Benthuysen, 1824) 1
"View of Rochester with a section of the Aqueduct", 1830 -- The first aqueduct, from "Monthly Repository and Library of Entertaining Knowledge", v.1, no.5, October 1830 (Wood engraving, 11 x 7 in.) 1	"Bruck-Canal uber den Fluss Genesee in Rochester" -- View of the first aqueduct from the west, from "Bereisung der Vereinigten Staaten von Nordamerika, mit besonderer hinsicht auf den Erie-canal" / von A. Duttenhofer (C.W. Loflund, Stuttgart, 1835) -- pg. 39)

"Views on the Genesee in Rochester: Plan of the New Aqueduct, 848 feet long, now building (1838) on the south side of the old structure, viewed from the Main Bridge." from "Settlement in the West: Sketches of Rochester" by Henry O'Reilly (Wood engraving) 1	"Erie Canal Aqueduct, Rochester, N.Y.", 1855 -- The aqueducts at Rochester, looking south, showing the 2nd aqueduct, and two arches of the 1st aqueduct. From "Ballou's Pictorial Drawing-Room Companion", Dec. 15, 1855, p.376 (Hand-colored wood engraving, 14 1/2 x 9 in.) 1
"Erie Canal Aqueduct", 1878 -- A view of Rochester's second Erie Canal aqueduct (completed in 1842) from the east end. No. 9 of 18 "Picturesque Views in Rochester, N.Y.", from "The Daily Graphic", Dec. 17, 1878, v.18, no.790, p.222-223. (Wood engraving) 1	"Erie Canal Aqueduct", 1878 -- A view of Rochester's second Erie Canal aqueduct; another version of the Daily Graphic engraving (source unknown)
"Rochester", by G.G. Lange, published by Charles Magnus, N.Y., circa 1853 (4 1/2 x 7 1/2 in.) -- Reproduction of "Rochester from the West, 1853" originally published by Smith Bros. & Co.                             Left: original lithograph ; Right: hand-colored lithograph.
"Tonnewanta Railroad Bridge, across the Erie Canal in Rochester" by F.C. Lowe, 1838; from "Settlement in the West: Sketches of Rochester" by Henry O'Reilly(Wood engraving, 13 1/2 x 8 in.) 1
1. Images courtesy of the Department of Rare Books & Special Collections, University of Rochester Library.

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