Chenango Canal - Today

Today

In many places the canal path became the roadbed for streets, and its path can be traced by the roads which replaced it. These include Binghamton's State Street and Chenango Street, NY Route 5, NY Route 8, NY Route 12 and NY Route 12B. In Utica the canal bed follows next to or underneath NY Route 12B/12, and entered the Erie Canal west of State Street. Portions of the old channel, stone aqueducts, locks, and other structures still remain in place along its route, and are visible in several locations. These include: between Bouckville and Solsville; near Hamilton, NY; north of North Fenton and west of County Road 32; north of Sherburne, west of NY Route 12B, and in the village of Oxford, both on Canal St and the remains of a harbor on North Washington. The only place left with moving water is an area between Woodman’s Pond, near the now extinct Pecksport and the aqueduct on Canal Road, just after Bouckville, which was the summit level on the canal. Most of these canal remnants as well as much of the original path are visible or discernable using Google Earth. The Chenango Canal bed continues to exist in Utica alongside the arterial for a half mile just east of the arterial and south of the Burrstone Road overpass. The waters of Nail Creek flow thru this section of the canal. The stonework of a lock remains in good shape and can be seen here. The tow path, however, is currently overgrown with brush.

Chenango Canal Summit Level is a national historic district located in the vicinity of Bouckville in Madison County, New York, United States. The district contains three contributing structures. It is a five mile segment of the Chenango Canal constructed between 1834 and 1836. The five mile summit portion is watered, owned and operated by the New York State Canal Corporation as part of the feeder system for the Erie (Barge) Canal about 30 miles north. The contributing structures are the canal prism and adjacent tow path, the remaining portions of the aqueduct that carried the Chenango over the Oriskany Creek, and a pair of stone bridge abutments. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.

Currently, the community in the Madison area is working to develop a trail along the original towpath. They hope to collect historical artifacts for public display and establish what is left of the Chenango Canal in that area as a Madison County park. The Chenango Canal Corridor Connections trail project is a major project with the vision to link various trails along the general canal and O&W rail corridors from Utica to Binghamton. Calling it the Chenango Connections Corridor, the area’s citizens are now working in conjunction with the NYS Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation; the NYS Canal Corporation; and Parks & Trails New York staff, as part of the HTHP program, to shape a vision and implementation plan for the corridor that spans three counties and multiple villages and towns.

The Chenango Canal Prism and Lock 107 at Chenango Forks in Chenango County, New York was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2010.