by Susan Zehnder, Education Director
This summer, groups of local students visited the Chemung
Valley History Museum. They looked for museum artifacts and documents on a
scavenger hunt; heard the true story of the building’s exploding vault (see The
Exploding Vault published January 11, 2016); and toured our new exhibit Getting Around: Transportation in Chemung
County. They also challenged their engineering skills by designing,
building, and testing simple canal boats.
Sometimes an unexpected question or answer gives us to pause
and think about history from a different perspective. One of those moments came
as we talked about canal boats. When students heard Chemung Canal, many thought
we were talking about the bank. But I’ll bet you back in the 1800s, every kid
in the area knew about the Chemung Canal.
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| Drawing of Elmira including canal and boats |
Brief history of the Canal
Inspired by the robust success of the Erie Canal to the north,
plans were made to build a canal between Elmira and Watkins Glen. This would connect
Elmira’s Chemung River to the Erie Canal, and tap into the growing wealth and
prosperity the canal was beginning to bring to western New York. Supporters of the Chemung
Canal petitioned the state legislature who granted them the go-ahead in 1829. Construction
on the canal began July 4, 1830. A fairly modest sum of $300,000 was allocated
for the project, which in today’s money would be close to 9 million dollars. The
proposed canal would be the least expensive canal to date.
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| Photograph of canal construction |
It took three years for construction crews to dig the 20-mile canal.
Like other canals, it was shaped like the letter ‘u’ and only four feet deep.
It reached twenty-six feet across at the base or bottom of the canal and spanned
forty-two feet across at the surface. Canals didn’t need to be deep, because
traffic on them consisted of canal barges or flat-bottomed boats. Canals were also fairly
narrow because tethered humans, horses or working mules pulled them on towpaths
along shore. Initial cargo consisted of lumber and agricultural products from
the area until increasing demand for Pennsylvania coal dictated the canal be
deepened to accommodate larger boats. To do this, workman simply
raised the side banks another two feet. Navigating the Chemung Canal took
boats two and a half days. They had to travel through the forty-nine locks situated from
Elmira to Watkins Glen.
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| Chemung canal pathway on right side of map |
When active, the canal brought prosperity to the area. However,
yearly rains damaged the canal, and by 1878 it fell into disrepair. While the canal had
been one of the least expensive to build, it had become one of the most
costly to maintain. By this time railroads were shipping goods and moving things
faster and farther. The Chemung Canal was abandoned and parts of its rights-of-way
sold off.
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| Barge boats at dock along Chemung Canal |
Today, parts of the Catharine Valley Trail follow some of the original Chemung Canal towpaths, and the Clemens Center Parkway navigates another part of the canal’s
pathway. Unlike the better known Erie Canal to the north, little physical
evidence is left of the 20-mile long canal that started in Elmira.
This summer and fall various Erie Canal events are taking
place. The Erie Canal challenge https://eriecanalway.org/explore/challenge is promoting
biking, hiking and walking along the pathway at distances of 15, 90, 180, and
360 miles. Although they don’t mention the Chemung Canal, their website
does include where to rent kayaks and places to explore near Watkins Glen and
Montour Falls. At both places you can see short parts of the Chemung Canal still
visible. Mostly the Chemung Canal is a memory.
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This map of the Catharine Valley Trail and link share more Chemung
Canal hiking and biking opportunities in the area to explore yourself.
The Bank
The Chemung Canal Bank Company started operations in 1833, the
same year the nearby canal opened. The very first bank statement issued ten
days after opening showed the bank had assets of $318,525 and deposits of over
$10,000. A year later, the bank moved into its first permanent home, on East
Water Street, now the site of the Chemung Valley History Museum. One of the bank’s
founders, an entrepreneur and financier by the name of John Arnot, had emigrated
from Scotland and settled in Elmira. He took over as bank president in 1852,
and the bank changed its name to the Chemung Canal Trust Company in 1903.
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| Former Chemung Canal Bank, now home of The Chemung Valley History Museum |
It’s easy to assume everyone knows these things, but for
people new to the area-which if we think about it includes young students, history
needs to be shared. Keeping that memory fresh is what we do here at the Museum.
