Clyde lies about halfway between Rochester and Syracuse on the Erie Canal. A village grew there on the banks of the Clyde River among oblong glacial hills called drumlins, with rolling country around it that provided excellent farmland. Farmers hauled grain and other produce to Clyde, where it was processed and shipped to market on the canal and later by railroad. Originally, the Erie Canal ran through the middle of the village, but when it was enlarged to its present dimensions in 1915, the channel was moved south into the bed of the Clyde River.