Canastota, NY: Erie Canal (has water) and Museum

(Satellite, this town has preserved most of the canal.)

Erie Canal Overview
 

Historic Erie Canal posted
Canastota looking east from Main Street High Bridge around 1901. Lift Bridge on Peterboro Street on end and my family home (White House on left)-waterfront property!

Today's view looking east from Main Street. We can still see the canal wall on the south side. It appears that they filled in part of the canal on the north side to make room for the road.

Street View, Aug 2023

Since the canal still exists, I didn't need to get a topo map to find it, but I always start with a topo map. So I might as well include it.

1895/95 Aneida and Chittenango Quads @ 62,500

The Canastota Canal Town Museum

Street View, Jun 2023

Yomna El-Negery, Jul 2017

Photo via hmdb
Canal Town

Towns sprouted along the length of the Erie Canal. Canal Street was Canastota's business district. Travelers stopped here for food and supplies or a bed for the night at a hotel or boarding house. Local farmers, merchants, and manufacturers shipped produce and other goods to larger, even international markets.

Horses and mules pulled wagons filled with barrels and crates to be loaded and unloaded at this bustling town center. Canastota's village streetscape has changed little from its early form shown in this late 19th-century photo.

(photo captions:)

• boarding house 1854

• grocery store 1820

• harness maker's shop 1875

• cabinet shop 1875

• bakery 1874

• Delaney House/American House Hotel 1875

Photo via hmdb
Canal Street
The berm (heel) side of the canal contained businesses that provided to the needs of canallers and the manufacturing of goods to be shipped by the canal, while the towpath side provided services and cottage industries.

Photo via hmdb, front panel
Industrial Growth
 The Erie Canal encouraged settlers to establish farms and helped small upstate towns become economically viable. Plants and mills built near the canal to process farm produce diversified to meet the needs of growing populations, and manufacturing economies soon developed.

Canastota, founded in the early 1800s, had an agricultural economy based on products like onions and celery. But in the 1870s, the town experienced a burst of industrial growth. The Canastota Knife Company was established in 1874 and Godey Knitting in 1875. In 1876, Barret Steam Mill opened, and in 1880, Lindley Boats. The Canastota Glass Works began in 1881, Hubbard Canning in 1882, and 1893 saw the opening of Watson's Wagons.

By the early twentieth century, Canastota was a thriving industrial town with a diversified manufacturing base that produced farm equipment, boats, gasoline engines, dumping wagons, film equipment, rakes, and cut glass.

Photo via hmdb, back panel
Canalway Trail
Welcome to the Canalway Trail System, offering hundreds of miles of scenic trails and numerous parks for walking, bicycling, cross-country skiing and other recreational activities. The Canalway Trail parallels the New York State Canal System, comprised of four historic waterways: the Erie, the Champlain, the Oswego and the Cayuga-Seneca Canals. The Canal System spans 524 miles across New York State, linking the Hudson River with Lake Champlain, Lake Ontario, the Finger Lakes, the Niagara River and Lake Erie.