LOCKPORT, N.Y. (WKBW) — Moving boats up and down through Erie Canal locks 34 and 35 in Lockport used to take more than a dozen people, but now, it’s a job of one, and the man at the head of that operation is John McKee.
“Took the test, and I’ve been here 23 years,” McKee said.
23 years on the Erie Canal, working a job that, because of the city’s back-to-back locks, is uniquely Lockport.
WATCH: 'Carrying on the history': Leading the Lockport locks into the Erie Canal’s bicentennial
Every time McKee opens the locks for a boat to pass, 2.5 million gallons of water are moved downstream, and multiple 25- and 50-ton steel gates open as century-old machinery moves boats to higher or lower elevation points on the canal.
What took around a dozen people 100 years ago is now just a one-man operation.
McKee leads a team of just three total operators in Lockport, all of whom take solo shifts opening and closing the locks for boaters.
“We do a whole mix of everything," McKee said. "Of course, our main, primary job is to actually operate the locks right here, acting as a traffic agent, putting the boats through, making sure they have safe passage. [As for the visitors], some of these people I have seen for the last 20 years. They’re kind of like friends and family now. I’ve gone to weddings of theirs and funerals.”
It’s a different occasion that’s unique to John.
Despite countless locktenders before, only John gets the honor of leading this team during the canal’s bicentennial this year.
“We are literally a living museum, and we are carrying on the history of all the people that have worked here before us,” McKee said. “[When I open/close the locks], I’m turning brass handles from 100 years ago.”
For 200 years, boats have come and gone, but it’s the locks and locktenders, like McKee, that have stayed to make Lockport what is today.
So, I spoke to the man behind the operation, and my colleague Taylor Anthony spoke to those who took tours through Locks 34 and 35.
You can find more information here and watch her report below.
