FARLEY: The Genesee Valley Canal

Opinion

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February 20, 2009

Opinion The Journal-Register Fri Feb 20, 2009, 12:32 AM EST

The success of the Erie Canal sparked a canal frenzy in New York that spread into other states and regions. As soon as merchants and politicians saw the tremendous financial success of the canal, they began planning for a series of “me-to” ventures designed to bring instant wealth to their own pockets. Upstate and Southern Tier communities lobbied their legislators to create nine more canals in New York by the 1850s.

The Genesee Valley Canal was a good example of one of the canals that followed in the footsteps of the Erie Canal. It was actually a lateral branch that connected to the Erie Canal and only lasted from 1858-1878. It was built because of the powerful political influences that came out of Rochester, one of the Erie Canal's greatest boomtowns. Rochester's success story even precedes the Erie Canal, as the town flourished as a flourmill city using the tremendous waterpower available on the Genesee River. Enter the Erie Canal and lo and behold, the perfect mix of location and natural resources were the breeding ground for rapid growth and commercial success. Growing from a few hundred settlers to over 60,000 county residents by 1860, Rochester and Monroe County were well on their way to earning the designation as the “water power city.”

Rochester merchants looked at their newfound success and hoped to extend their domination in other directions, too. The city fathers pushed for another canal that would start in Rochester at the Erie Canal and connect it to the fertile Allegheny River valley. This route, they imagined, would help Rochester secure a trade route with Pittsburg and westward into the Ohio River valley. They feared that if they delayed in the construction of this Genesee Valley Canal, they would loose this valuable trade to the railroads that were already securing trade between Philadelphia and Pittsburg.

So, the deep-pocket politicians overcame skeptics as a very hilly canal route was laid out in 1836. Ground was broken in 1839, but construction halted around 1842 due to state budget woes as a restult of the Depression of 1837. Digging commenced once again in 1846 and the Genesee Valley Canal was completed in 1858. The Rochester to Olean canal route turned out to be a monumental problem with huge changes in elevation as it passed through the hills skirting what would become Letchworth Park at Nunda and westward near the Pennsylvania border. The canal required 104 locks as it traversed its hilly countryside. The price tag for this albatross surpassed $6 million, making it the second most costly public work project in the state at that time. One notable result of the Genesee Valley Canal, in spite of its short 20-year usage was the creation of the largest man-made lake in New York, now known as Cuba Lake.

Hoping to cut its losses, the state quietly pulled its support from the canal before the end of the 19th century. The feared competition from the railroads did indeed turn out to be one of the greatest factors in the lack of success of this lateral canal. By the 1850s, twenty-nine railroads were built or under construction in New York. This coupled with the lack of commercial traffic through the canal, eventually closed the Genessee Valley Canal, adding its name to a list of other canals that never succeeded: the Chenango Canal, Crooked Lake Canal, Oneida Lake Canal and the Junction Canal. The railroads, as if to add insult to injury, actually laid their track through the old canal beds or towpaths of many of New York's abandoned canals.

Doug Farley is director of the Erie Canal Discovery Center in Lockport. The ECDC is now closed for the season but will open for any group. Call (716) 434-7433 for details.

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