6-18-17 Herkimer Mansion

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6-18-17 Herkimer Mansion

We find something new every day on our travels on the Erie Canal. Take for instance Lock 17. It is a 40 ft lock.  Most locks have two doors that swing open and closed. On a 40 ft lock those would be massive doors.  So they made half of the lock permanent with a gate like a garage door goes up and down to allow the water in and out.

Lock 17 sign
Door lifting to let us in.
Inside lock 17. She’s a big one, but not the biggest we have been in.
We only had this one friend in the lock with us. The log clunked on our hull then the current took it to the other side of the lock. Phew.
We are on the Mohawk River. Beautiful!

The Herkimer Mansion was alongside the canal with nothing else there except a very small dock that one big boat like ours could tie up to.  We were intrigued by the Herkimer name because Grand Rapids, MI (our home) had a Herkimer Hotel.  We wondered if there was any connection. Well there is, but only slightly.  The man who built the Herkimer Hotel was from Herkimer, New York.  Herkimer New York was named after the Herkimer family that settled the area. There’s your fun fact for the day.

There she stands, The Herkimer Mansion, in all her glory with nothing around it.

The Herkimer Mansion was owned by the Revolutionary General Nicholas Herkimer.  It was built in 1764. General Herkimer is credited for coming into the area to organize the men of the area to fight in the Revolutionary war. On August 6, 1777, during the battle of Oriskany, Herkimer wounded his leg (Presumably shot.) He was brought back to the mansion and a Doctor attended him there where he had to amputate his leg. Eleven days later he died and was buried in the family cemetery. We found it interesting that he did not have a head stone until 1847. That is 70 years after his death when a grandnephew purchased a headstone for him. In 1913 the state of New York took over the estate. They build a monument for him. In 1914 the State restored the home which was in poor condition.  It had and full restoration to put the house back to the way it was when it was built in 1960. We learned more history but I won’t bore you with all of it.

The house facing the river with a lovely garden in front.
Replica of a river boat.
The front of the house. We couldn’t tour it because they had event that day. They were cooking chicken on the grill, making us hungry.
The well still has water in it. However, they have steel bars across the top to insure no one  will fall down it.
The root cellar was in perfect condition. I’m sure the door is new.
The gravestone placed 70 years after General Herkimer’s death.
The monument commemorating General Herkimer.
The garden in back of the house.
This is the tiny dock we tied up to. It was ok for an hour in calm weather, but we never would have stayed there or gone in with wind. Note the Dad and Lad fishing off the end of the dock. It was father’s day. What a special moment for them both.

It was a lovely day and we enjoy our short stop and history lesson.

Thanks for reading,

Karen and Scott

Unique Random Photo of the Day:

I thinks aliens have landed on earth.

2 thoughts on “6-18-17 Herkimer Mansion”

    1. Thanks Vicki. Glad you are enjoying our blog. Thanks for making it worth doing.

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