Cayuga Lake And The Erie Canal:

Cayuga Lake And The Erie Canal:. Ithaca’s Waterway To The World. Did you know you can take a boat west from Stewart Park all the way to Duluth, Minnesota? Or southeast to New York City and the Atlantic Ocean? On ancient canoes to steam ships to modern paddlecraft, people have traveled these water routes for millennia. , , Before The Erie Canal , Indigenous people lived along these waters long before the Erie Canal was imagined, with 13,000 year-old canoe-building tools found near Watertown, NY, demonstrating the importance of watercraft to the early people. , , The Gayogoho:no? (Guy-uh-kono) whose name roughly translates as “from the swampy land.” have held a deep connection to Cayuga Lake and waterways for food, trade, and transportation. During the Revolutionary War, the U.S. Military was ordered to attack Gayogoho:no? and allied tribes, including the Tutelo people. Though driven from their lands and waters, both groups retain their ancestral ties to the region today. , , Gayogoho:no people are members of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy (formerly also known as the Iroquois) notable for their elm bark canoes. Although heavy, these boats were relatively quick to make, and could carry multiple passengers. , , Ithaca On The Erie Canal , The Erie Canal established the first modern all water route between the Great Lakes and the Atlantic coast. Completed in 1825, the canal opened Upstate New York and the Midwest to settlement, commercial agriculture and industrialization. , , The 364 mile-long waterway was so successful that communities throughout New York clamored for canals of their own. Ithaca has been a canal port since 1828, when the Cayuga-Seneca Canal connected the two largest Finger Lakes with the Erie Canal, boosting local production of lumber, wheat, and whiskey. Boatworks and lumber yards lined the Ithaca Inlet, along with services for travelers passing through the town. While the canal system remains in service today, most of its traffic is recreational. , , Steamboats , From 1895-1915, steamboats regularly brought scores of visitors from resorts on Cayuga Lake to Stewart Park (then Renwick Park). Passengers would disembark to enjoy picnics, concerts, and dancing throughout the summer months. Steamers also docked at the pier to offer commutes and tours up the lake. The last of the steamers, the Frontenac, remained in daily service until it was destroyed by fire in 1907. , , Paddlng For Competition And Recreation , In the late 1800s, small-capacity boating became increasingly popular along Ithaca’s waterfront with canoes and rowboats available for rent, sailing clubs opening, and building, the Cascadilla Boathouse, was constructed by the Cascadilla School to house their racing shells. , , Today, Cayuga Lake is still a haven for recreational boating for all ages. Sweep teams row the inlet, kayakers hug the shore, fishermen cast from their skiffs, and a Haudenosaunee recreational group regularly canoes their waters. Sailors take advantage of the winds on the open lake. Look out at the lake and you may see some now. In 2009, the Cayuga Lake Blueway Trail opened as a public water-recreation trail connecting non-motorized watercrafts like kayaks, stand up paddleboards, and canoes to many local businesses and recreation areas along Cayuga Lake and the Erie Canal. , , Crew racing has been popular on Cayuga Lake since the 1870s. The Cascadilla Boathouse, built in 1896, is still used today by the Cascadilla Boat Club. For more history on competitive crew racing in Ithaca, visit the interpretive panel at Crew Cove Overlook, south of the Ithaca Farmers Market.