By Associated Press
Albany – Union College archeologists have found what they believe to be the stones of the wall of Lock One on the Old Erie Canal in Albany. The locks acted like water elevators -- moving boats through changes in elevation along the canal. Lock One was part of an extension of the 363-mile canal more than 150 years ago.
Researchers say the canal spurred westward expansion in the country and was a link to the nation's fertile interior lands. It tied the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean.