I’d call this “hidden in plain sight” and by some–I’d speculate– considered an eyesore. Ted Olsen took these photos just west of the East Palmyra-Port Gibson Bridge on the south side of Route 31. You can even see this via Google Maps street view. Here are some of Ted’s images, and I’ll let you figure out what this is before I share Ted’s narrative. See the stonework in the shadows right at the center of the photo below.

See the stonework?

The blue dot marks the spot and comes with a hint, i.e., those were not placed there for Route 31 construction.

The “wall” continues for quite some distance. Ted reports that the property owner has been clearing some of the vegetation to expose the stonework in all its beauty.

Ted writes “A quick glance out the bus window last week I caught a glimpse of a run of vertical canal wall stonework. [A few days later] I stopped by this site today to get a better look at what was now exposed. There is several hundred feet of canal wall stone in view here. This stonework would have been along the south bank of the canal. Route 31, in this section, sets atop the northside towpath of the canal. The original 70 feet width of the canal prism has narrowed somewhat by a degree of backfilling over the years, but it still remains as a wide ditch alongside the south shoulder of Route 31.

After I parked on the Rte 31 shoulder and got out to view the stonework up close, a nearby homeowner walked across the highway, curious as to what I was looking at. He said he tries to clear brush away as he can. On behalf of us canal buffs, I thanked him for what he was trying to do.”

In my opinion, local jurisdictions are missing an opportunity to promote what could be a tourism selling point. As a person who grew up traveling this stretch of roadway thousands of times, I never knew what it was. Worse yet, I never even noticed it.

Left to nature and human forces, this remnant of our history will eventually be lost.

Many thanks to Ted for the photos and to the landowner for his insight and efforts.