Chenango Canal in Earlville




These are paintings created in 1996 by the late Gordon L. Dresser of Earlville At right are the Page Forwarding Co. warehouses. The bridge that crossed the canal was about where East Main Street is now. The lock beyond to the north is near the site of the Earlville Paper Box Co. The fisherman is believed to have been “Old Abe, one of a number of Oneida Native Americans who often camped near the swamp on the old Deacon Ira Crain farm. “Old Abe” always remained in this area while the others relocated their camp. He would husk corn and do other light chores in return for being allowed to roll up in his blanket by the kitchen fires at the home of local residents. At other times he hunted, fished, and trapped. Local children were especially fond of him because he frequently made them toy bows and arrows and other toys for them.  Quincy Square Museum, Earlville.



Break in the Canal at Earlville
Chenango Telegraph, Wednesday, April 27, 1859
    A very extensive break was made by the water in the canal, at a point just south of Earlville, on Tuesday night last. The embankment was washed away for a considerable distance and the bottom carried out of the canal to a depth of ten feet. The place where the bread occurred is at the side of a large swamp, and this had been originally filled up some forty few to make a foundation for building upon, and the water, therefore, had so great a fall that the level was emptied with a rush, and the boats were piled about in a very mixed manner.
  Contractor Smith was at the scene of the disaster at an early hour on Wednesday morning with a large force of men and teams, and was so energetic in making repairs that boats were able to pass Saturday.


Canal boat passes the W.K. Nash Tannery in Earlville. Shown on a wall map of the Town and Village of Hamilton by Benjamin A. Clark, Civil Engineer, Philadelphia, Pa., 1858.


                             Old aqueduct at Earlville.

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