ANOTHER TRIP TO SCAJAQUADA CREEK

We park in the Tops Supermarket lot at Amherst and Grant Streets. Walking along the Bike Path, we are soon in another world. At first the Creek is wide open and visible but then we wander down under a decrepit railroad bridge and see aged wooden pillars as well as the foundations of Route 198. The creek is a polluted mess - it's gone through so many uses and abuses but now the Buffalo Niagara Riverkeepers and other groups have hopes to improve its future.

THROUGH A HOLE IN THE CHAIN LINK FENCE

Right off the bike path is a rusted world of abandoned factories. Huge chunks of obsolete equipment sit in the sun, more amazing than any sculpture. An old 18-wheeler is half hidden in the weeds. It appears scrappers may be organizing some of the remains. It could take a man's lifetime to empty the buildings and sell all the scrap metal. Graffiti artists have marked the territory again and again while someone has tried unsuccessfully to blot them out. This world is both invisible and wide open.

EMPTYING INTO BLACK ROCK CHANNEL

Where the creek empties out into Black Rock Channel, we see the underside of Route 190 and beside it is a line of ancient piers. No idea what could have been here but obviously lots of history. I'll have to search for old photos that might show what once was.