Building the Chenango Canal

          Compiled by Richard F. Palmer
         [E-mail: Railroad@twcny.rr.com]  
                                 
                                                                    
                                                                                From painting by Robert Ward
          
                                  Building the Chenango Canal

[Madison County Leader and Observer,  Morrisville, N.Y., August  26, 1915]
               
    Hamilton - The work of constructing the canal commenced in 1834 and was completed in 1836. All of the six reservoirs and the feeders for supplying water for the canal and consequently Hamilton became the center of activity during that important period.
    A great building boom was inaugurated in the village at the same time. All of the larger buildings existing in the town up to 1870 were constructed at this time, including the Eagle Hotel, Commercial Building,  Hamilton Canal Exchange buildings, etc. St. Thomas’ Church was also built at the same time so it is easily seen that those were the liveliest days in the history of our village. 
    The laborers on the canal and reservoir jobs came with very few exceptions from Ireland, and were the first of that nationality ever seen here. They for the most part came from the slums of Dublin and Cork and were no representative  of the Irish people as we know them today than is the Dago a true representative of the nation that gave to the world a Columbus, a Michaelangelo and an Addelina Patti.
    There was very little of the criminal about them, but their love of strong drink and fighting was carried to an extreme which fairly appalled the regular inhabitants of the town and inspired a wholesome fear, which was unwarranted, as the fistic amusements of the strangers were confined pretty much to themselves.  The central colony of these people in this locality were quartered in shanties erected on the land bounded by the present Maple avenue, Pleasant and Main streets and was called New Dublin.
    Maple avenue had its origin at that time, it having been opened as a lane for the accommodation of New Dublin. After the completion of the canal it was extended and made into a regular street and christened Canal street; and after abandonment of the canal its name was changed to Maple avenue, on account of the many maple trees which adorn it.
    The behavior among the Irish during the two years of canal construction was a constant source of anxiety and alarm to the villagers as a whole, and twice, in one year the militia was called out to restore order, and so the people were greatly pleased in 1836 when the canal was opened with a celebration, the principal feature of which was the arrival in town of the first canal boat, the “Dove of Solsville.” The canal was finally abandoned in 1876, after having served its purpose well for just forty years.




          Mural of the Chenango Canal in Hamilton, N.Y. by David Grace

                                 Notes on the Chenango Canal
Authorized by New York State Legislature in 1833; opened 1837; 97 miles long, Utica to Binghamton, N.Y.; 1,015 feet lockage; 114composite and 2 stone locks (90’x 15’); 1 guard lock, 19 aqueducts, 52 culverts, 21 waste weirs, 12 dams, 11 lock houses; bridges - 56 road, 106 farm, 53 feeder; prism - 40’ x 28’ x 4’ deep; boats - 76 tons burden. Estimated cost - $1,960,546; actual cost, $2,316,186. Feet above tidewater - Utica, 427; summit level at Bouckville and 24 miles south of Utica - 1,128 feet. Number of locks between Utica and Deansboro - 36. Officially closed: May 1, 1878. On May 30, 1878 the Chenango American noted that the farmers were lowering the old canal bridges on their farms since abandonment of the canal. Last season of operation: Opened June 15, 1876, closed November, 1876. Sources: Chenango Union, May 18, 1876; Chenango American, Oct. 19, 1876.

Madison County Leader and Observer
August 26, 1915
(excerpt)
    Hamilton -  The behavior among the Irish during the two years of canal construction was a constant source of anxiety and alarm to the villagers as a whole, and twice, in one year the militia was called out to restore order, and so the people were greatly please when in 1836 the canal was opened with a celebration, the principal feature of which was the arrival in town of the first canal boat the “Dove of Solsville.” The canal was finally abandoned in 1876, after having served its purpose well for just forty years.
  

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

History of the Chenango Canal in Binghamton

Image
Portion of 1855 map of Binghamton showing Chenango Canal near entrance to the Chenango River. Note canal boat basin, dry dock and boat yard off Susquehanna street. From: Binghamton Its Settlement, Growth and Development 1800-1900  William S. Lawyer, Editor. Century Memorial Publishing Company, 1900 (P. 272)  The Chenango canal was authorized by an act of the legislature, February 23, 1833. The work of construction was begun the same year and was finished in 1837, at a total cost of $1,737,703. From Utica, the northern terminus, to the summit of the greatest elevation on its line, a series of seventy-six locks gave a rise of 706 feet; thence the canal descended 303 feet by thirty-eight locks to the southern terminus at the junction of the Susquehanna and Chenango rivers in Binghamton.     The feed supply was obtained from the elevated water bodies of southern Madison county, and were Madison brook, Woodman’s pond, Leland’s pond, Bradley’s brook, Hat...
Read more

Chenango Canal in the Oriskany Valley

Image
     Model of a Chenango canal boat displayed at Hamilton Public Library made by Lee Brown Coye. Note the sweeps on the sides to enhance navigation.                               It is so easy to whisk up the Oriskany Valley these days in a motor car that you probably don’t think of the place as ever having been isolated. But back in the 1820s, when the main stream of Erie Canal commerce was passing it by, the hinterland folks began to get a persecution complex.     Obviously what was needed was a canal for everybody. And particularly a North-South canal connecting the Erie with Binghamton, the Susquehanna, and the Pennsylvania coal country.    So up and down the Oriskany and the Chenango, folks organized themselves into a mass “pressure group.” They hired their own engineers to make surveys. They sent out promotion “literature” to everyone of any importance. ...
Read more

Old Chenango Canal at Utica

Image
By the time this photo was taken the Chenango Canal had been abandoned. The scene is north of Court Street in Utica and the New York & Oswego Midland Railroads is on the left. This 1855 map shows how the Chenango Canal intersected the Erie Canal in   Utica, including four sets of locks.     ___________ Syracuse Standard August 21, 1854     Utica, July 30. - Boy Drowned. - A boy about nine years old, son of Joseph Marshall, of West Utica, was drowned yesterday while bathing in the Chenango Canal near third lock. It was his first and last attempt at swimming. _____________ Syracuse Standard Friday, May 23, 1856     Rape Case at Utica. - The Utica Telegraph gives an account of a brutal rape case recently committed near the city by three young men on a girl 12 years of age. The case somewhat resembles the one committed in this city last year.     It seems that a girl, in company with another girl ag...
Read more