For those interested in unusual instances of technology transfer, check a new webpage at http://www.nysm.nysed.gov/histmonth.html, created as a project for New York History Month, which occurs each November.

The page documents the adaptation of Native American eel weir or fish trap structures as a mechanism to assist large boat navigation of the inland rivers of New York State in the closing years of the eighteenth century. 

These works were part of the engineering experiments undertaken by the Western Inland Lock Navigation Company (1792-1820) - a private enterprise and the first canal company in New York.

During the coming months additional pages will be added to this part of the New York State Museum website to present research findings of the Durham project - a ten-year effort to document the physical remains and historical geography of this significant era in American transportation history.


Philip Lord, Jr.
New York State Museum
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Philip Lord, Jr.
New York State Museum
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