Cohoes Falls (, "a boat is in the water/is actively submerged") is a

waterfall A waterfall is any point in a river or stream where water flows over a vertical drop or a series of steep drops. Waterfalls also occur where meltwater drops over the edge of a tabular iceberg or ice shelf. Waterfalls can be formed in seve ...

on the

Mohawk River The Mohawk River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed October 3, 2011 river in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It is the largest tributary of the Hudson R ...

shared by the

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

of Cohoes and the

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

Waterford Waterford ( ) is a City status in Ireland, city in County Waterford in the South-East Region, Ireland, south-east of Ireland. It is located within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster. The city is situated at the head of Waterford H ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

History

Cohoes

historian A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human species; as well as the ...

Arthur Masten incorrectly wrote in his 1880 history that the phrase might mean "Potholes in the River," referring to the

pothole A pothole is a pot-shaped depression in a road surface, usually asphalt pavement, where traffic has removed broken pieces of the pavement. It is usually the result of water in the underlying soil structure and traffic passing over the affecte ...

s that appear in the riverbed when it is dry. However, Kanatsiohareke (Kanatsiohareke) and Kanatsio'háre (Canojahare) bear names with reference to this meaning in ''Kanien'ké:ha'' (Kanyenkeha). In the oral and written tradition of the

Iroquois The Iroquois ( ), also known as the Five Nations, and later as the Six Nations from 1722 onwards; alternatively referred to by the Endonym and exonym, endonym Haudenosaunee ( ; ) are an Iroquoian languages, Iroquoian-speaking Confederation#Ind ...

(Haudenosaunee), ''Kahón:ios'' is where the

Great Peacemaker The Great Peacemaker ( ), sometimes referred to as Deganawida or Tekanawí:ta in Mohawk (as a mark of respect, some Iroquois avoid using his personal name except in special circumstances) was by tradition, along with Jigonhsasee and Hiawatha, t ...

performed a feat of supernatural strength, convincing the Kanyenkehaka (Mohawks) to become the founding nation of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. Some historians believe the Kanyenkehaka (Mohawks) launched the Confederacy as early as 1142 CE, though other experts report dates ranging from 1450–1650. Celebrated by 18th-century travelers in letters and journals, Cohoes Falls, also called The Great Falls of the Mohawk, were regarded as the second-most beautiful cataract in New York State after

Niagara Falls Niagara Falls is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the Canada–United States border, border between the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York (s ...

. In 1804, the national poet of Ireland,

Thomas Moore Thomas Moore (28 May 1779 – 25 February 1852), was an Irish writer, poet, and lyricist who was widely regarded as Ireland's "National poet, national bard" during the late Georgian era. The acclaim rested primarily on the popularity of his ''I ...

, visited Cohoes and wrote a paean to the waterfall's beauty: "Lines Written at the Cohos, or Falls of the Mohawk River." In 1831, town leaders built a

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, aqua ...

across the Mohawk River to harness the power of the falls to fuel the turbines of the city's burgeoning

textile Textile is an Hyponymy and hypernymy, umbrella term that includes various Fiber, fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, Staple (textiles)#Filament fiber, filaments, Thread (yarn), threads, and different types of #Fabric, fabric. ...

industry. Over the next several decades, the predominant company, Harmony Mills, became the largest manufacturer of cotton in the United States, thanks to its control of local water rights. When all the mills closed in the wake of the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

, city leaders leased the flow rights to a series of power companies, including

Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation was a New York State utility company, which was acquired in 2000 by National Grid plc. The Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation designation was retired, using variations of NationalGridUS (such as National Grid Buffa ...

and Orion Power. The

Erie Canal The Erie Canal is a historic canal in upstate New York that runs east–west between the Hudson River and Lake Erie. Completed in 1825, the canal was the first navigability, navigable waterway connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes, ...

was planned to overcome the navigational barrier of the Cohoes Falls. The original "Clinton's Ditch", the Erie Canal of 1825, was built through the city of Cohoes. The later Enlarged Canal was realigned, yet still went through the City of Cohoes. The Barge Canal, which opened in 1918, bypasses Cohoes and runs through the Village of Waterford via the Waterford Flight of Locks.

Description

The Cohoes Falls is 90 feet (28 m) high and 1,000 feet (305 m) wide. Its flow is greatest in springtime, sometimes running at of water per second. The flow varies with seasonal variation of Mohawk River flow as well as with diversions for the Barge Canal locks,

power generation Electricity generation is the process of generating electric power from sources of primary energy. For utilities in the electric power industry, it is the stage prior to its delivery ( transmission, distribution, etc.) to end users or its stora ...

, and the Cohoes water supply. During the summer, the falls are virtually dry, revealing

shale Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of Clay mineral, clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g., Kaolinite, kaolin, aluminium, Al2Silicon, Si2Oxygen, O5(hydroxide, OH)4) and tiny f ...

rock formations that have their own distinctive beauty. The 87-year average flow of the Mohawk River at Cohoes is 34,638 cubic feet per second, but this includes water diverted to the power plant and Erie Canal locks.

Cohoes Falls compared to Niagara Falls

*The width of Cohoes Falls is roughly , while Niagara Falls' width is for

American Falls The American Falls is the second largest of the three waterfalls that together are known as Niagara Falls on the Niagara River along the Canada–United States border. Unlike the much larger Horseshoe Falls, of which approximately 90% is in On ...

and for Horseshoe Falls *The height of Cohoes Falls ranges from on the north side to on the south end. Niagara Falls' height is 70 to for American Falls and for Horseshoe Falls. *Water flow over Cohoes Falls ranges from zero to 90,000 cubic feet per second. (During

Hurricane Irene Hurricane Irene was a large and destructive tropical cyclone which affected much of the Caribbean and East Coast of the United States during late August 2011. The ninth tropical cyclone naming, named storm, first hurricane, and first major ...

in August 2011, the flow was estimated to be over 100,000 cubic feet per second with a total river flow of 117,000.) Water flow over Niagara Falls ranges from 5,000 to 21,000 cubic feet per second for American Falls and 45,000 to 190,000 cubic feet per second for Horseshoe Falls. *Cohoes Falls generates about 190,000 megawatt hours (i.e. 190 gigawatt hours) of electricity a year. Niagara Falls produces about 2.4 gigawatts in New York and 2.0 gigawatts in Canada. *At Niagara Falls, the annual rate of tourism tops 28 million people. There is no tourist industry at Cohoes Falls.

Gallery

Image:Cohoes Falls Spring.jpg, Cohoes Falls in spring with high volume of water File:2020 Cohoes Falls 2.jpg, Cohoes Falls with low water flow Image:Cohoes Falls Dry.jpg, Cohoes Falls dry

References

External links