New York State Department of Transportation Division of Waterways Maintenance Superintendent and Lock Operator's Records for…

Arranged by type of record.

This series consists of files that originated in the Fort Edward Section office (Section 1) of the New York State Barge Canal. They document, however, the primary status of the Waterford office for the eastern part of the state in the canal's operation. Its location at the junction of the Hudson and Mohawk Rivers has provided the office with oversight of several lift bridges over the Hudson, numerous locks and dams along with a range of other canal structures, from land cuts to river sections. The c. 1920 drydock and shops are among the reasons that supervision of much of the State's eastern canal floating plant has come through Waterford.

Included are water gauge reports, bridge logs, daily lockerage reports, correspondence, and administrative files such as payroll and personnel records. In some categories, the records are not comprehensive but provide an excellent sampling of the diverse types of responsibilities that came through the section offices. Of particular note are the correspondence files from the first decades of the Barge Canal's operation, during which time the Barge Canal bureaucratic structure was being developed. In the shadow of Albany's main canal office, the section was in more frequent contact with statewide issues. There is also a scattering of more recent files, some dating from the 1970s. Of special note are the personnel files. More than other regions of the state, the Waterford work force mirrored a folk tradition in canal work, with several generations of workers from the same family.

B1363Series B1363, Superintendent and Lock Operator's Records for Section 6 and Lock 28B of the Barge Canal, and

B1878Series B1878, Superintendent and Lock Operator's Records for Sections 1 and 2 of the Barge Canal, contain similar records documenting operation of the New York State Barge Canal System.

Container list is available at the repository.

The records in this series were transferred from the Waterford Section Superintendent's office (Section 2).

The section office traditionally receives a second copy of all daily lockage reports and lift bridge reports. In this series the record is not complete chronologically, though useful samples are provided for nearly all such operations. Water gauge reports are more comprehensive and cover the lower Mohawk and upper Hudson.

Personnel records found in boxes 12 and 13 arerestricted to protect personal privacy.