Worcestershire Journal – Canals
by Karl - November 11, 2008 12:20pm
Over the weekend, we visited my wife’s cousin near Rochester, New York. This section of New York is part of the geographical transition from the Adirondack range and the hills and valleys created by the glaciers to the flatter lands of the Midwest. There are small ridges along the shore of Lake Erie, giving the houses, some grand and some modest, neat perches overlooking the broad waters.
A quarter mile inland, you have farmlands that, over the past few years, have been given over to housing developments. Nice houses, these, with something for a wide range of checkbooks. There was a bit of new construction going on, but not much. The biggest project we saw was the new fire hall in the town of Webster.
The population of Rochester is close to Worcester’s, but feels like a large city because of the presence, albeit fading, of large companies such Kodak and Xerox.They have an all-news cable channel, RNews. (A tidbit for the radio nerds – Rochester is now the home to WBZA. The call letters used to belong to a Springfield, Mass. rebroadcaster of Boston’s WBZ until the early 1960s.)
It was a quick trip, so we didn’t get to explore downtown Rochester. As a result, we missed seeing the Toy Hall of Fame, including its latest inductee: The Stick
Strong National Museum of Play
On our way home, however, we stopped in Fairport, a small town with a nicely developed waterfront area along a section of the Erie Canal.
The lift bridge over the canal is a simple and clever piece of engineering. On this Saturday, the waterfront was clean, fresh, and pretty much empty. There was a bit of activity at the farmers’ market nearby, but the walkways along the canal were noticeably devoid of visitors, tourists or locals.
Which brings us back to Worcester and its canal. It’s wonderful to have our history brought forward, to understand how the Blackstone Canal and River were such important parts of Worcester’s industrial development. It’s even personal. When my father attended Boys’ Trade in the 30s, he built a diving helmet that was used in some underwater work in the river. Knowledge of our history is necessary, but, however, not sufficient to move us forward.
We have a lot to learn from this history. The mighty examples of engineering and construction, such as the Erie and Blackstone canals, were obsolete nearly as soon as they were built. Similarly, companies are often overcome by events – Kodak and the change to digital imaging, Digital Equipment and the advent of both the PC and the Internet.
Seeing the canals, we realize that we have to think big if we’re going to get anywhere We are, however, going to have to take big risks, including the very big risk that our big ideas weren’t big enough.
Then, again, you’ll always know your neighbor, you’ll always know your pal… Of course, we had this tune with us throughout the trip:
[...] week, I wrote about visiting my wife’s cousin in Rochester. A bunch of years ago, my brother and I traveled [...]