We don't know if it was a scene like this, along the Erie Barge Canal as it snakes its way through Orleans and Eastern Niagara County, that inspired some of the words to America The Beautiful. But we do know that Lockportian Dick Gallagher takes some beautiful aerial photos! Of course having a beautiful countryside helps! Just above the amber waves of grain the photo shows a train of the Niagara and Western New York Railroad Company making its way east toward Lockport. Above that is the Niagara Orleans Golf Course, Telegraph Road, and the Erie Barge Canal.
O beautiful for spacious skies,
For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties
Above the fruited plain!
America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!
11-18-02