The Cayuga–Seneca Canal is a

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, United States. It is now part of the

New York State Canal System The New York State Canal System (formerly known as the New York State Barge Canal) is a successor to the Erie Canal and other canals within New York. The system is composed of the Erie Canal, the Oswego Canal, the Cayuga–Seneca Canal, and ...

. The canal connects the

Erie Canal The Erie Canal is a historic canal in upstate New York that runs east–west between the Hudson River and Lake Erie. Completed in 1825, the canal was the first navigability, navigable waterway connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes, ...

Cayuga Lake Cayuga Lake (, or ) is the longest of central New York's glacial Finger Lakes, and is the second largest in surface area (marginally smaller than Seneca Lake) and second largest in volume. It is just under long. Its average width is , and i ...

and Seneca Lake and is approximately long. A multi-use trail runs beside a portion of the canal.

History

The Seneca River, now the Cayuga–Seneca Canal, always has been an economic engine for the communities of

Waterloo Waterloo most commonly refers to: * Battle of Waterloo, 1815 battle where Napoleon's French army was defeated by Anglo-allied and Prussian forces * Waterloo, Belgium Waterloo may also refer to: Other places Australia * Waterloo, New South Wale ...

and Seneca Falls. The Seneca Lock Navigation Co., a private enterprise formed in 1813, dammed three sets of rapids and installed locks to allow goods to be transported to the

. In 1818, a canal was opened between

Cayuga Cayuga often refers to: * Cayuga people, a native tribe to North America, part of the Iroquois Confederacy * Cayuga language, the language of the Cayuga Cayuga may also refer to: Places Canada *Cayuga, Ontario United States * Cayuga, Illinois ...

and

Seneca Seneca may refer to: People, fictional characters and language * Seneca (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname : :* Seneca the Elder (c. 54 BC – c. AD 39), a Roman rhetorician, writer and father ...

Lakes. By 1823, an average of eight boats a day were passing through the lock at Waterloo, carrying

flour Flour is a powder made by Mill (grinding), grinding raw grains, List of root vegetables, roots, beans, Nut (fruit), nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredie ...

potash Potash ( ) includes various mined and manufactured salts that contain potassium in water- soluble form.

pork Pork is the culinary name for the meat of the pig (''Sus domesticus''). It is the most commonly consumed meat worldwide, with evidence of pig animal husbandry, husbandry dating back to 8000–9000 BCE. Pork is eaten both freshly cooke ...

, whiskey,

lumber Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes (dimensional lumber), including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, window frames). ...

and

wool Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have some properties similar to animal w ...

and returning with other products and merchandise. Job Smith, Seneca Falls’ first businessman, opened a

portage Portage or portaging ( CA: ; ) is the practice of carrying water craft or cargo over land, either around an obstacle in a river, or between two bodies of water. A path where items are regularly carried between bodies of water is also called a '' ...

company on the eastern end of the river in 1787. The company transported travelers, boats and goods around a mile-long series of rapids with a drop known as “the Falls.” The locks at Seneca Falls were completed in 1818. Improvements between the lakes, completed in 1821, made eight stone locks and nearly two miles of dug canal in addition to sections of the river. To further develop industry, the rapids were dammed to form the Upper, Middle and Lower Falls, and rapid industrialization began in 1825. Through Seneca Falls, there was a lock for every important mill site, raising or lowering the boats a total of . In 1825, a canal was begun to connect Seneca Lake with the newly constructed Erie Canal at Montezuma and the Cayuga–Seneca Canal was put into use in 1828. The Canal was enlarged in 1862, and the Flats, an area adjacent to and east of the village center, grew into a major industrial area, producing fire engines, hose carts and other firefighting equipment, pumps and other iron goods including stove parts, bootjacks, corn shellers, meat choppers, sausage stuffers, flatirons and bells. A knitting mill made socks and once produced 85,000 pairs of socks for the Army and Navy. C-S Canal locks were modified in 1918 when New York State created the New York Barge Canal System. State engineers replaced five locks with a large two-flight lock - a lift that required a great pool of water for their operation. This spelled the demise of the Flats. Buildings were destroyed or moved to create Van Cleef Lake. Flooding was completed on August 20, 1915.

Locks

The following list of locks is provided for the current canal, from east to west. There are a total of 4 locks on the Cayuga–Seneca Canal. All locks on the New York State Canal System are single-chamber; the dimensions are long and wide with a minimum depth of water over the miter sills at the upstream gates upon lift. They can accommodate a vessel up to long and wide.New York State Canal Corporation - Canal Map, New York State Canals
Retrieved Jan. 26, 2015.
Retrieved Jan. 26, 2015.
Retrieved Jan, 26, 2015. Overall sidewall height will vary by lock, ranging between depending on the lift and navigable stages.
Retrieved Jan. 28, 2015. Distance is based on position markers from an interactive canal map provided online by the

New York State Canal Corporation The New York State Canal Corporation is a New York State public-benefit corporation responsible for the oversight, administration and maintenance of the New York State Canal System, which consists of the Erie Canal, Cayuga–Seneca Canal, Osw ...

and may not exactly match specifications on signs posted along the canal. Mean surface elevations are comprised from a combination of older canal profiles and history books as well as specifications on signs posted along the canal.Wilfred H. Schoff, ''The New York State Barge Canal'', 1915, American Geographical Society, Vol. 47, No. 7, page 498
Retrieved Jan. 26, 2015.The Erie Canal - Canal Profiles
Retrieved Jan. 6, 2015.United States Army Corps of Engineers, ''Diversion of Water from the Great Lakes and Niagara River'', 1921, Washington Government Printing Office, page 128
Retrieved Jan. 26, 2015. The margin of error should normally be within . ''All surface elevations are approximate.'' The Cayuga–Seneca Canal officially begins at the confluence of the Seneca and Clyde rivers near Mays Point. The connection to Cayuga Lake is just east of Lock CS1, where the mean surface elevation is . From there, the canal makes a sharp turn westward and continues towards Seneca Lake, where the mean elevation at the western terminus is . Image: Seneca Pk.jpg, Cayuga – Seneca Canal from Seneca Lake State Park,

Geneva, New York Geneva is a City (New York), city in Ontario County, New York, Ontario and Seneca County, New York, Seneca counties in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It is at the northern end of Seneca Lake (New York), Seneca Lake; all land port ...

. Image: Seneca Lk.jpg , Cayuga – Seneca Canal at the Northern tip of Seneca Lake. Image: SF Seneca Can..jpg , Cayuga – Seneca Canal from

Seneca Falls, New York Seneca Falls is a town in Seneca County, New York, United States. The population was 9,027 at the 2020 census. The Town of Seneca Falls contains the former village also called Seneca Falls. The town is east of Geneva, New York, in the north ...

Trail

The Cayuga-Seneca Canal Trail is a multi-use recreational trail running beside the canal on an old railroad bed. The trail connects to the lakefront at Seneca Lake State Park as well as Bishop Nature Preserve and runs to the Village of Waterloo. The trail will ultimately connect to the

Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge is a wildlife preserve operated by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, encompassing part of the Montezuma Swamp at the north end of Cayuga Lake. The 10,004-acre (40.48 km2) preserve is composed ...

. Image:Cayuga-Seneca Canal Trail view.jpg, View from the Cayuga-Seneca Canal Trail. Image:Cayuga-Seneca Canal Trail sign in New York, USA.jpg, Cayuga-Seneca Canal Trail sign. Image:Cayuga-Seneca Canal Trail path.jpg, View of the Cayuga-Seneca Canal Trail.

References

External links

Cruising Guide to the Cayuga-Seneca CanalInformation and Boater's Guide to the New York State Canal SystemNew York State Canals
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cayuga-Seneca Canal Canals in New York (state) Historic American Engineering Record in New York (state) Transportation buildings and structures in Seneca County, New York Tourist attractions in Seneca County, New York Finger Lakes Canals opened in 1818