Canal Became Street in Binghamton

            

Binghamton Press
March 11, 1933

                           State Street in Binghamton
    State street in 1933 with its congested traffic and throngs of hurried pedestrians bears no trace of the old, colorful days from 1837 to 1875 when, as the Chenango canal, it formed the chief artery of communication of travel between Binghamton and points north, east and west.
    The white-painted canal boats or “packets” with their cargo of passengers and freight were towed over the placid waters by three horses. Pleasant, leisurely trips were made daily to Norwich at the rate of three or four miles an hour. Boys of the neighborhood coated the stolen rides to Port Dickinson from where  they would “hitch-hike” back to town on another boat.
    Arrival of the packet at the dock just back of Sisson’s store always was announced by the blasts of a bugle. Men working along the towpath frequented the saloon and gambling den of one, “Buckshot” Adams, which stood beside the dock, fronting the canal.
    Gruesome stories are told of the “Buckshot” era, including the murder of a New York canaller who got into a brawl in the back room of the saloon. According to the story, a shot was heard, a body was weighted with stones and sunk in the waters of the canal. The crime was covered up and went unpunished.
    The first boat reached Binghamton over this canal May 6, 1837, and was an occasion for much celebration among the townspeople. Starting from Crooked, now Keuka Lake, by way of the Crooked Lake canal, the boat’s route was through Seneca Lake and the Seneca, Erie and Chenango canals.
    Construction of the Erie canal, completed in 1825, is thought to have afforded the needed stimulus which started among Binghamtonians plans for linking Utica and Binghamton. After eight years discussion and investigation, plans for building the Chenango canal matured so far that in February, 1832, the state Legislature passed an act authorizing the project.
    The Chenango Canal was completed in 1837 at a cost of $1,7237,703. Seventy-six locks were necessary to lift the canal boats from Utica to the highest point above tidewater which was reached at Bouckville, altitude of 1,128 feet, On the Binghamton side, 33 locks were needed to lower the boats to the junction of the Susquehanna and Chenango rivers.
    But the death knell of the Chenango canal was sounded when the Utica, Chenango & Susquehanna Valley railroad was completed. In May, 1872, the state Legislature authorized the city to use that part of the canal between the Susquehanna river and the north line of Prospect avenue for a public street. Six years later the city received the right to take over the entire canal bed within the city limits for street purposes.
    

    

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