Genesee River - History

History

The preglacial eastern branch of the Genesee runs south of Mount Morris and was completely diverted by extensive terminal moraines just south of Dansville, so most of the upper section was diverted toward the Susquehanna River system. Now only a small creek flows in what is left of this large valley.

The Seneca nation traditionally lived between the Genesee River and Canandaigua Lake.

If "not for hydropower, the flour mills, clothing mills, and tool fabricators would not have located in Rochester", and the 1825 Erie Canal allowed the mills to ship products to New York City. A few hundred feet north of the center of the village of Rochester, the Erie Canal crossed the Genesee River via a 1823 stone aqueduct (802 feet (244 m) long, 17 feet (5.2 m) wide), which was replaced by the 1842 Erie Canal: Second Genesee Aqueduct.

Most of New York west of the Genesee River was part of the Holland Purchase after the American Revolution. The river demarcates the "Genesee Country" of New York to the west and the Finger Lakes geographic region to the east.

On Friday, November 13, 1829 (Friday the 13th), the daredevil Sam Patch jumped to his death before 8,000 spectators at the Upper Falls in Rochester.

In 1836 the Genesee Valley Canal was begun to build a new canal from the Erie Canal near Rochester, up the Genesee Valley, across to the Allegheny River at Olean. Construction of new sections extended upriver (southward) until 1880. Although an important commercial route, the canal was plagued by frequent flood damage and the final leg down the Allegany River was never completed. The most difficult section to build was the bypass around the gorge and falls at present day Letchworth Park. The canal followed the old Native American portage route, which necessitated many locks. These old locks can still be seen near Nunda. The project was abandoned and the right of way was sold in 1880. The property became the roadbed for the Genesee Valley Canal Railroad, which eventually merged with the Pennsylvania Railroad. Much of the canal and railroad right-of-way is open to the public today as the Genesee Valley Greenway, which was started in 1991.

In 1852 a wooden railroad bridge was built over the Upper Falls at Portageville. It was the largest of all wooden bridges built at the time. The wood from 300 acres (1.2 km²) of trees was required for its timber. In the "summer of 1943", Arch Merrill walked the length of the Genesee River.