Explore

Although the focus of the Lock 52 Historical Society is Port Byron and Mentz, we want to encourage you to visit the other great sites of our friends and neighbors. We figure the more you have to see, the longer you will stay. This map shows sites from Lock 50 in the east near Syracuse, to Lock 53 to the west, near Clyde. That places Port Byron in the middle of this tour. In this area, you will find a chain of canal / historical sites and parks along the Erie Canalway Trail. All these parks and sites are free, open to the public year around, except for the Port Byron Old Erie Canal Heritage Park which is open May to October.

Most of these sites are along the Erie Canalway Trail. This trail runs from Buffalo to Albany and recreates the connections that all these canal villages once had. The map is fully interactive and will give directions. Enjoy your tour.

If you would like to learn more about the Erie Canal and specifically how it worked in Cayuga County, you can find a copy of Twelve and a Half Miles; The Erie Canal in Cayuga County with these links;

Section One - Canal history and how it worked, plus Cold Spring Pump

Section Two - Weedsport to Port Byron

Section Three - Montezuma, the Cayuga Marshes, and the Barge Canal