Feeding the Canal

The Rome Summit Level, the high ground from Syracuse to Rome, was the first completed section of the canal, and because water did not naturally fill this elevated stretch, reservoirs and feeder canals were built to provide a constant source of water and maintain its level despite rainfall or seasonal changes. The Chittenango Canal, a lateral canal drawing from Chittenango Creek, supplied water directly to the Erie Canal while also giving towns and businesses direct access to it. Built in 1817 by the Chittenango Canal Company, this more than mile-long canal ran to the southern end of modern day Chittenango, included four locks that each raised the water level 6 feet, and supported sawmills, stores, and other businesses until about 1852. The state bought it in 1860, and portions were eventually filled in. Today the Old Erie Canal State Historic Park preserves all 36 miles of the Rome Summit Level from DeWitt to Rome, and this stretch of the old canal still feeds the New York State Barge Canal System, joining it in New London between Oneida Lake and Rome. Water for the system comes from reservoirs including Cazenovia Lake, Tuscarora Lake, Jamesville Reservoir, and DeRuyter Reservoir, whose waters flow into Chittenango Creek, Butternut Creek, and Limestone Creek and are then diverted into the Chittenango Canal, the Orville Feeder, and the Fayetteville Feeder.

Sullivan, New York · United States