Whitehall: Drownings in the rivers, locks and canals 1919

 From the Whitehall Times, 4 September 1919

Accidental death around the canals and waterways were very common.  In the 19th and first half of the 20th century, safety was an afterthought and there were no laws or regulations requiring safeguards for children and adults.

A Mylott in 19th Century Whitehall

Robert Millot, alternatively spelled  Mailot or  Maylotte and finally, Mylott can be found in the 1850 census of Whitehall, New York working as a farm laborer on the Rathburn farm on the outskirts of town. Exactly when he arrived from Québec, we do not know.  What attracted the young man to this town at the southern end of Lake Champlain? Looking around Whitehall today, it would be hard to tell.  What did Whitehall look like in 1850?  When Robert Millot came into Whitehall,  he found a town bursting with activity, jobs, commerce and crime but, at that time, only a few French Canadians.  For several decades the region was the farmland of New England descendants.  With the opening of the Champlain Canal, Whitehall quickly became the center of economic activity in the north county attracting many new immigrants because it offered many new opportunities.  It was so busy and bustling, it even became the center of a fictional story entitled Ship Fever Times.

Below are several stereoscopic views and a few panoramic scenes of Whitehall in the 19th century, helping us to imagine the Whitehall  Robert Millot saw when he arrived.

A viewer, typical of the ones used to view the images below

In 1912 Canoe Upset; Boy Drowned

Spring flooding in the Mettowee River can be especially dangerous.  Almost one hundred years ago, in June 1912, Willard Mylott son of George L. and Mary E. Wilson Mylott, drowned in the raging waters.  Willard was a twin but his twin brother, Willis, died in infancy.  Willard's brother, Richard, survived the ordeal in the river.

The Mettowee River, Washington County, NY in Early Springtime

Postcards of the Champlain Canal: Waterford to Whitehall

Following the Champlain Canal through New York State in postcards....scenes from Waterford to Whitehall.

The canal from Lake Champlain to Waterford was officially opened in 1823. When you read the chronology of events of the Champlain canal, it seems repairs, fixes, enlargements, improvements and plugs were started the day it opened and never stopped! The postcards below are not arranged in any chronological order. If theres any order it would be from south to north.  Therefore in some images the canal looks narrow with a towpath.  In other images the canal is wide or doubled spanned. 

Waterford, NY

Waterford Lift Bridge

Waterford Covered Bridge to Lansingburg

to Mechanicville...

Sleepy Mechanicville

to Stillwater...

and Bemis Heights...

to Schuylerville...

through Ft. Edward, Sandy Hill (Hudson Falls) and Fort Ann...

along Wood Creek... notorious for its flooding and damage to the canal

to Whitehall, NY where the waters began to flow north to Québec