Canals and waterpower has shaped the history of the City of Cohoes over the last two centuries. You can see the Brookfield Renewable Power plant in the background to the left of the kiosk. To the right is the entrance to the Falls View Park and in the distance brick structures originally built for textile workers.

The City of Cohoes has installed the latest interpretive kiosk on North Mohawk Street at the Lock 18 parking lot.  One side faces the sidewalk with a map of historic features within the City.  Remnants of Lock 18, from the enlarged Eric Canal are diagonally across the parking lot.  The other side of the kiosk tells the story of water power from the Mohawk River, how it has been harnessed over the years, and how it has overlapped the City’s history.

This kiosk has been the product of years of visioning, planning, word smithing, negotiations, design, and siting.

Ken Radliff, supervisor of the crew that installed the sign said that it only took two and a half hours to install, “…but we had to come back for a jackhammer.  It’s all shale once your down a few inches.  With the concrete that sign isn’t going anywhere!”

Welcoming map introducing the historic features in Cohoes and their relationship to each other. Stone work comprising Lock 18 can be seen in the background.

Mayor Shawn Morse suggested an on-line map to augment the kiosk’s map. A tiny QR code under the map leads a viewer with a cell phone or other PED to an interactive map that you can walk away with as you continue to explore historic features throughout the City.

Many thanks to the Spindle City Historic Society and specifically the Cherniak Family, for their help with the interpretive kiosk and its content along with Friends of the Mohawk Towpath Byway Ed Tremblay and Henny O’Grady. We all should be very proud of the product of the Byway’s interpretive project.