Junction Canal
As the population grew in the Lower Chemung River Valley, 19th century brought many changes and developments to the area. Economic development was essential to it’s growth. With the Erie Canal system in upstate New York becoming successful in 1825, there was much speculation of building a canal along the Chemung River. Pennsylvania started a canal system in 1826 with hopes it would be as successful as the Erie Canal, running from north central Pennsylvania to southern New York. Local businessmen from Chemung and Elmira saw the opportunity of building a canal to connect with Pennsylvania’s North Branch Canal and Elmira’s Chemung Canal. The Chemung Canal opened in 1832 and ran from Elmira to Seneca Lake. Seneca Lake was the doorway to the Erie Canal system.
In 1836, a public meeting was held at George Washington Buck’s Home in Chemung with a positive outcome. An agreement was reached by both Pennsylvania and New York factions. With this agreement, Chemung County successfully petitioned the New York Legislature for permission to survey for a canal, in 1837. In 1838, surveys were made on both sides of the Chemung river, north and south, with the north side being chosen. John Arnot, Sr. became the president and financial backer for the newly formed Junction Canal Company. Construction of the canal began in 1853. (The completed canal had 11 locks and was 18 miles long.) It was built in 31 sections. The building of the canal required many workers. Carpenters to build the wood locks, dams, aqueducts, bridges, culverts and even the lock houses. Blacksmiths were hired for the iron work. There were teams driven to help plow & scrape the canal bed. Plenty of Irishmen were on hand to dig the ditches that could not be scraped. The Irish who suffered greatly by several smaller potato famines and finally the Great Potato Famine were starving in their homeland. The Duchess of Leeds, Louisa Catherine Godolphin-D’Arcy, granddaughter of Charles Carroll, (a signer of the “Declaration of Independence”), took pity on the Irish people and paid passage for a number of families to come to America. They were under contract as laborers to work on the canal. In return they were given land and pay. The Duchess is attributed with settling a part of her grandfather’s tract of land in Pennsylvania and at the same time saving many Irish from a horrible fate. The area of settlement is now known as Ridgebury Township, PA. The Irishman and their families settled the land, clearing it and established a large farming community. The Junction Canal was proudly opened in 1856 between Elmira, NY and Athens, PA, although the canal was not totally completed until 1858. Coal was carried from Pennsylvania on the canal system to the turning basin in Chemung, where it was transferred to the Erie Railroad for transshipment. Steam railroad soon became the front runner to the canal systems. The speed of the trains, the quantity a train could haul and the ability to run year ‘round, soon made the canal system’s obsolete. In 1865 the Junction Canal (also known as the Arnot Canal), was devastated by major flooding of the Chemung River. Although the canal system was abandoned in 1871/72, a large portion of the canal can still be seen today, along with several lock houses. |
References: The Chemung Historical Journal, Vol. 38 #1, September 1992, The Junction Canal, by J. Arthur Kieffer.
150 Years Remembered, St. Ann's Roman Catholic Parish Sesquicentennial Celebration, Bentley Creek, PA, by the History Committee, 1993. |
The Junction Canal Story
160 yr Commemoration Mary Ellen Kunst, Historian, Town of Chemung October 27, 2018 Not many people today know about the old Junction Canal. It’s the local fishermen who still keep the old names and locations of the canal in use today. Johnny Cake is probably one of the most common names, and Katy-did is another. In fact, fishermen seem to be historians and keepers of the river. They can tell you where the old weirs, dams and locks were and where to find the remains of each one. The Junction Canal was created to join together the North Branch Extension of the Pennsylvania Canal, at the border of Athens Township and Chemung, with the Chemung Canal in Elmira, NY. 18 miles of canal, it ran through the Town of Chemung, Village of Lowman and Town and City of Elmira. Remnants of canal bed, locks and dams can be viewed today. Some of the canal bed still holds water during high water levels in the area. A material called puddle was used to line the canal beds. It was a type of fine clay mixed with water and applied to the sides of the canal bed. One of the best locations to view part of the canal is when you exit the west bound lane of Interstate 86, at exit 59 in Chemung. To your right, parallel to the railroad tracks, you will see a body of water. What you are looking at is part of the old turn around basin, called Buck’s Cove. The turn around basin split from the canal bed, running closer to the railroad tracks. The actual canal bed ran very close to what is now the west bound lane of the Interstate, until it passed by narrow hill and tucked in by the old Bacorn Veggie Stand on County Rt. 60 west of the town. It proceeded into the Chemung River for a short distance before reaching an area known as Katy-did curve where it crossed under the road and proceeded north out into the field. It is thought the Warren Flats Cemetery was disturbed at the time of the digging of the canal. It is not known where the remains of the Cemetery might have been moved to. The turn around basin was part of a coal transfer station. The coal barges would leave the main canal bed, traveling down Buck’s cove and waiting their turn. They would line up parallel to the Erie R.R. line. Several large steel cranes would transfer coal from the barges to awaiting rail road cars, sitting on a trestle. The empty barge would swing around and leave the basin the way it entered, thus it was called the turn around basin. Lumber was also removed in this manner. The canal dock was 100 feet long. It’s been recorded that in one 24-hour day, 99 boats passed through Lock 6 at Chemung. July 7, 1836 a public meeting took place in Chemung at the home of George Washington Buck, a very prominent businessman in the town. His home still stands today and is located next door, to the left of the fire department on Main Street. It was in the Buck home where a resolution of agreement was made for the Junction Canal which was acceptable to both New York and Pennsylvania Representatives. The Junction Canal was known to many as Arnot’s Canal, with John Arnot, Sr. being one of the largest stock holders. The Chemung Canal was opened in 1832 and so the push was on to have a canal connecting with the Pennsylvania Canal line to carry anthracite and bituminous coal north, through the Chemung Canal. The Junction Canal, once built and operational, would provide continuous canals from the Chesapeake Bay to the Great Lakes. It was a long time coming however and because of many obstacles along the way, ground was finally broken in March 1853, but the woes of the canal were just beginning. The canal required the building of 3 dams, 2 aqueducts, 42 bridges, 11 locks and various canal houses and buildings. The Irish were the primary canal diggers, carpenters, blacksmiths, teamsters and foreman. They were paid 10 cents an hour and worked 10-hour days. Two primary early Irish settlements established by the canal laborers were Ridgebury Township, Bradford Co, PA and The Patch, an area above Washington Ave, in Elmira, Chemung Co. NY. May 5, 1853, the canal laborers uncovered a mass grave. The location in the newspaper article was sketchy but the location was south east of Lowman. The grave was moved and it is unclear where the new location is. The grave holds the remains of 19 men: British and Native American’s who were killed during the Battle of Newtown in 1779. It wasn’t until 1936 the fallen soldiers were honored by a grave marker and ceremony. But through the years the marker was removed and is kept at the Knoll Cemetery on Cemetery St, Lowman. Although it was announced that boats were traveling the Junction Canal as early as Oct 1855, the Junction Canal was not officially celebrated as opened until December 1856, when a barge, The Towanda carried 80 ton of anthracite coal from Pittston to Elmira. A huge celebration followed all along the route and in Elmira. June 1857, a freshet seriously damaged the Chemung Canal and damaged the new Junction Canal. Another flood in October 1857 also saw damage to the canals. But, November 19, 1857 saw the worst of the flooding for the year and almost washed out the Chemung River Bridge in Chemung. One 30-day period is the longest uninterrupted navigation they saw on the canal. In a two-month period, over $50,000 was lost in canal tolls. 1858, was the first year the Junction Canal was fully operational from May to December and proved to be a successful year. There will always be an argument over the actual opening of the canal, but most historians stay with the year, 1858. Flooding continued to be a problem for the canal. In May 1860 a bad break of 60 feet occurred by the John Lowman, Esq. farm in Chemung. But, the April 1865 flood was so devastating to the Junction Canal and North Branch Canal that it wasn’t clear or certain the canal would continue. But it did reopen and ran for another 6 years before being abandoned. The Junction Canal was known as a Slackwater Navigation. The canal paralleled the Chemung River for long sections, sharing part of its water and drainage basin, by building dams and locks and a reason why the canal was so paralyzed by the regional rains and flooding. Although the Erie R.R. was already running before the Junction Canal was built, the Erie was burning wood to fuel their steam engines. They were not equipped to haul the loads the canal barges could carry. That soon changed, as bituminous coal from the Barclay Mountain became readily available and was carried up to the Junction Canal via the North Branch. Prosperity came to the towns and outlying areas where the canals ran through them. In Chemung, the Junction House opened for business and not far from there was the McKinney House, offering rooms for rent. In addition, the Junction House held exclusive parties and dances and fine dining. The back of the Junction House can still be seen today from the interstate. The large white three-story building is now an apartment house. Buck’s Hotel, an imposing double front gable, federal style building complete with matching fan lights in the attic, prospered during canal times. The hotel burned to the ground in 1874. As for Johnny Cake Dam, it was named for the staple of many poor families in and around the Wilawana area. Johnny Cake, was made from ground corn and water. It made a flat corn bread in the bottom of a cast iron skillet. It was warm and filled their stomachs but didn’t provide much nourishment. If they were lucky, they might have had a wild berry bush growing nearby to add a little fruit to their meal. On a low water day on the river, you can still see the remains of the old wooden Johnny Cake Dam. |
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Recent Views of the old Junction Canal
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Click on image to enlarge.
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Vintage Images of the Junction and Chemung Canals, Chemung County, NY. Also a few sketches of the Erie and other canals around the country.
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Special thank you to the Chemung County Historical Society for sharing images of the canals in Chemung County.
Click on image to enlarge |
The Chemung Historical Journal, Vol. 38 #1, September 1992, The Junction Canal, by J. Arthur Kieffer.
The following pages are excerpts from The Junction Canal, by J. Arthur Kieffer, Chemung County Historical Society