The Shenango Canal

 - The Wikipedia entry.

The Chenango Canal was a towpath canal built and operated in the mid-19th century in central New York in the United States. It was 97 miles long and for much of its course followed the Chenango River, along Rt. 12 N-S from Binghamton on the south end to Utica on the north end. It operated from 1834 to 1878 and provided a significant link in the water transportation system of the northeastern U.S., connecting the Susquehanna River to the Erie Canal.

The canal was first proposed in the New York Legislature in 1824 during the construction of the Erie Canal, prompted by lobbying from local leaders in the Chenango Valley. It was authorized by the legislature in 1833 and completed in October 1836 at a total cost of $2,500,000- approximately twice the original appropriation. In 1833 a grand ball was held in Oxford, NY, which feted the canal's approval. The great American civil engineer John B. Jervis was appointed Chief Engineer of the project and helped in its design. This was an era of extensive canal building in the United States, following the English model, in order to provide a major transportation network for the eastern United States.