Genesee Valley Greenway

Genesee Valley Greenway. A Transportation Corridor for Generations. A Canal 1840-1878 The Genesee Valley Canal provided transportation through the Genesee River Valley between the Erie Canal in Rochester and the Allegheny River at Millgrove, southeast of Olean. The Genesee Valley Canal was one of several “lateral canals” that that branched off the successful Erie Canal. , In 1840, 37 miles of the Genesee Valley Canal were opened between the Erie Canal at Rochester and the Genesee River at Mt. Morris. A year later, four more miles of main canal extended southeast through the village to the Shaker colony (now Sonyea) along with 11 miles of branch canal that opened from Shakers to Dansville. The entire canal was not completed until 1861. , Although it never made enough money to pay for its construction or even its maintenance, the Genesee Valley Canal encouraged the development of communities along its course, including Mt. Morris. It provided transportation for the region’s residents and access to distant and lucrative markets for selling their agricultural products, lumber, coal, and gypsum. The canal also made it easier and less expensive to acquire manufactured goods and other supplies from the industrial centers to the east. , “-The Genesee Valley canal – a work which will illustrate the power, if not the wisdom of our noble State – because whoever shall pass along its courses, after its completion, will not be slow to admit that such a victory over such obstacles, has not often been accomplished in the history of human enterprises.” Rochester Gem and Ladies’ Amulet, Vol. XII, November 28, 1840. , A Rail Line 1882-1963 The canal was abandoned in 1878 and sold to the Genesee Valley Canal Railroad in 1880. In most places, the railroad laid its tracks on top of the canal towpath. The railroad had a number of owners before finally becoming the Rochester Branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1900. In 1963, the railroad abandoned 80 miles of the line from Wadsworth Junction to Hinsdale, but continued to use sections of the tracks north to the city of Rochester until the early 1980s. , A Greenway 1991 and Beyond Development of this corridor as a 93-mile greenway began in 1991. The first two-mile section of Genesee Valley Greenway opened a year later in Mt. Morris. In 2011, the Greenway was designated a New York State Park and in 2014 it was named a National Recreation Trail. Similar to other abandoned towpaths and rail beds across the country, the Greenway connects users to the transportation history of the region and provides opportunities for recreation and off-road links to communities, parks, and other regional attractions. , The Genesee Valley Greenway is maintained by a partnership of the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation, the City of Rochester, Monroe County, the Friends of the Genesee Valley Greenway, and the many communities along its length. , [captions] The two canals of Mt. Morris. On the right, a boat navigates the Genesee Valley Canal. On the left is the Murray Hill Canal, built c.1827 to supply power and logs to several mills in the village (Undated). 1859 map showing the intersection of the Erie and Genesee Valley Canals. This 1893 Panoramic Bird’s Eye View of Mt. Morris shows the passenger station and freight depot sited at the end of Lake Street. After World War I, passenger and freight service were consolidated at the Erie station to the south. Mt. Morris freight station. Mt. Morris passenger station.