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Canals The success of the Erie Canal built across New York between 1817 and 1825, spread canal fever throughout the state. The booming prosperity of the communities along the canal quickly created a demand in other cities for canal connections so they could share in the good fortune and business. The tiny village of Elmira was able to convince the state of New York that a canal was practical from the Chemung River to Seneca Lake. It was impractical to draw water for the canal from the river at Elmira, so a "feeder" canal was planned from the river at a point near modern day Gibson to Horseheads. Some of the residents of the village of Painted Post hoped that the dam for the terminal of the feeder canal would be close to their village, but the engineers picked a spot at Chimney Rocks near present-day Gibson. The dam was constructed and a large pool of water was impounded on the river flats behind it. The Chemung Canal opened in 1833. A canal boat could enter the Feeder Canal at Gibson, follow it to Horseheads and the Chemung Canal, and then journey to Seneca Lake where steam boats towed strings of canal boats up the lake to the Erie Canal. From there the boats followed the Erie to Albany, and eventually their cargoes could be delivered to the docks of New York City or Brooklyn. In time thousands of tons of coal from the Blossburg mines were carried on the Blossburg-Corning Railroad to the docks of Corning to then follow this canal route to the industrial cities on the seacoast. Most of the canal boats were freighters, not packets or passenger boats. However, the families of the canal captains often lived on the boats, where the wives set up housekeeping in compact quarters. Boys and girls traveled along, assisting with household chores, as well as helping drive the mules and attend to the tasks necessary around the boat. Some families spent the winter in Gibson, where there was a convenient repair shop for the vessels. Many of the boats were constructed in the village of Millport in Chemung County, which at that time was a busy, thriving town. Above Gibson, on the south shore of the Chemung River, a new community began about the time that the canal was opened. The usual boat was up to sixty feet long. In the stern there was a cabin, which included a galley, and sleeping berths. The bow had a stable for horses, which were kept on board at night when the boat had a steam tow. A group of Albany speculators purchased some farmland, and planned a new village, reasoning that where this planned railroad and a canal met business would prosper. They called the new village Corning, after Erastus Corning, an Albany banker who was one of the investors in the plan. Before the new village began, Knoxville had already grown up on the north side of the river. It had a church, school, and several stores. The oldest building in the settlement was the Jennings Tavern, also known as the Patterson Inn. It was built in 1796 and Benjamin Patterson, a frontier scout and great hunter, was its first host. Centerville, now called Riverside, was also a busy settlement. But the new settlement at Corning grew rapidly and within a few years surpassed the older settlements in numbers and in businesses and services. Canal cargoes from Corning included soft coal, limber, tobacco, grain, and whisky. From April 22 to December 11, 1850, the canal season that year, the newspaper reported that 1,116 boats left the port of Corning. Tolls for the year totaled $54060.39. Among items shipped were 46,572,400 pounds of coal. The canals best peacetime year was 1854 when 270,978 tons of freight was hauled. The Civil War brought an abnormal amount of business with a peak of 307,151 tons hauled in one year. The canal was abandoned at the close of navigation in 1878. By then the railroads could provide more dependable year-round freight service. However, the city of Corning may be said to be the child of the canal because its building was the first event in the chain of circumstances, which culminated in the founding of the village of Corning.  
 Photos provided by The Benjamin Patterson Inn & Corning Painted Post Historical Society History text provided by Tom Dimitroff
Prehabitation | Native Americans | Settlement | Canals | Railroads | Industry | The Flood | Post Flood
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