Five Lock Combine and Locks 37 and 38, Black River Canal

Boonville Gorge Park contains a preserved section of the Black River Canal, which linked the Black River Valley to the Erie Canal. The nominated stretch holds single Locks 37 and 38 and a five-lock combine, Locks 39 to 43, built in quick succession to climb steep terrain in a narrow limestone ravine. Lock 37 dates from 1895, Locks 39 to 41 from 1896, and Locks 42 and 43 probably from the early 1900s. Half of Lock 38 was lost to highway construction. The canal was authorized in 1836, opened in sections through 1855, and supplied water to the Erie Canal while supporting lumbering in the Black River Valley. Engineers once considered inclined planes instead of locks, a plan rejected because only smaller boats could use it. The canal closed in 1924. The section is valued as engineering evidence and as a surviving piece of New York's canal system, and Oneida County plans to preserve and interpret it as a park.