The Lockport Cave can refer to one of two caverns beneath the city of

Lockport, New York Lockport is both a city and the town that surrounds it in Niagara County, New York, United States. The city is the Niagara county seat, with a population of 21,165 according to 2010 census figures, and an estimated population of 20,305 as of 20 ...

. One of the caves formed naturally in the underlying dolomite and

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

bedrock In geology, bedrock is solid rock that lies under loose material ( regolith) within the crust of Earth or another terrestrial planet. Definition Bedrock is the solid rock that underlies looser surface material. An exposed portion of bed ...

s, whereas the other is a hydraulic raceway ( water tunnel) constructed in the nineteenth century. Historical and recent accounts of attempted exploration of the natural cave system exist, although the cave has been sealed since 1886. The true size of the cave remains a mystery, although it is speculated to have an area of several square miles. The Lockport Cave Company was formed in 1883 to explore and remove mud from the cave, however little progress was made because of inadequate funding and frequent flooding. The man-made hydraulic raceway, often called "The Lockport Caves" by locals, was constructed between 1858 and 1900. The raceway supplied water to local industries for decades, and now contains a tourist attraction, the Lockport Cave and Underground Boat Ride. The canal received national attention in 2023 when a tour boat capsized, killing one person and injuring several; this incident has led officials to explore regulation of this kind of attraction.

References

External links

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Lockport Cave website
Caves of New York (state) Landforms of Niagara County, New York {{US-cave-stub