Looking northeast, the locks were “V” shaped with the “V” facing upstream to withstand the pressure of the water current. In this photo, the lock is “full.” The maintenance buildings are on the north shore of the canal near the old dry docks. Note the hand railings on the top of the gates (that was scary to cross!) On the top of the gates, you can see small motors, which were used to open and close the “sluice gates” that drained the locks. The sluice gates were like a door with a flap at the bottom of each gate. They drained the lock enclosure to whatever the lowest water level would be—usually about 12 ft. The round motor seen on the right powered the rack and pinion to open and close the gates. Today, if you look at the old gates, at what remains of the locks in the Brookdale Avenue area of the former canal, you can still see the rack and pinion gears. The cotton mill tower seen in the background between the two buildings on the right is part of the Mill that burned on Oct. 10, 2010.

~ Notes by Ray Amell