Chronology - Genesee Valley Canal.

CHRONOLOGICAL RÉSUMÉ OF IMPORTANT LAWS AND EVENTS.

GENESEE VALLEY CANAL.

1813	Chapter 47 – Genesee river declared a public highway.
1823	Petition for $10,000 for improvement of Genesee river.
1825	Chapter 236 – Commissioners to survey for canal, three routes – Rochester to Olean, Scottsville to Genesee river, Lake Erie to Allegheny river.
1826	Commissioners report favorable routes.
1830	Chapter 234 – $750 appropriated to survey Genesee valley route. (Nothing done.)
1834	Chapter 215 – Commissioners to survey Genesee valley route; also side-cut Mount Morris to Dansville.
1835	Report of F. C. Mills presented.
1836	Chapter 257 – Commissioners to build canal, Rochester to Olean, and side-cut to Dansville.
1837	June, – Contracts let for first division south of Rochester. Report on feeder from Conesus lake. Preliminary surveys for the entire line completed.
1838	Work from Rochester to rapids completed. Work in progress on 51 miles more, – rapids to Dansville. Route adopted and 50 miles, Mount Morris to Cuba, let by contract. Genesee river feeder enlargement completed.
1839	Chapter 305 – Commissioners to use cheaper locks, savings $384,506.95. Commissioners report: Oil Creek reservoir to be 490 acres, dam 55 ft. high, 390,000,000 cu. ft.; Rockville reservoir begun, 18,000,000 cu. ft.; Ischua creek reservoir to be 575 acres, dam 70 ft. high, 588,000,000 cu. ft. Contracts let for remaining twenty miles. Aqueduct at Mount Morris dispensed with.
1840	Chapter 161 – $500,000 authorized to carry on work. September 1, – Navigation opened, Rochester to Mount Morris, 36 miles. Collector’s office established at Scottsville. Break at Black creek; 15,000 cu. yds. earth carried out; navigation interrupted eight days.
1841	Chapter 194 – Commissioners to borrow $550,000. November 23, – Navigation opened from Mount Morris to Shaker settlement, 5.22 miles; thence to Dansville, 11.12 miles; 52 miles of completed navigable waterway to date. Rockville reservoir completed.
1842	Chapter 144 – "Stop law," all works except necessary repairs stopped.
1844	Slip from Dansville to side-cut connected by citizens of Dansville.
1845	Bradner’s creek taken as a feeder.
1846	Constitution, Art. VII. Sec. 6, – Canals never to be sold, leased or otherwise disposed of. Chapter 241 – Bridge to be built at Clay St., Rochester. Chapter 246 – $10,000 appropriated for preservation of canal. Chapter 305 – Canal board to receive Dansville slip and basin.
1847	Chapter 263 – $128,000 appropriated for constructing canal. Chapter 446 – $50,000 appropriated for constructing canal. Contracts let for finishing "Deep Cut" and Portage tunnel, 1,082 feet long.
1848	Chapter 172 – Canal board to assume Dansville slip and basin. Chapter 217 – $218,000 appropriated for work between Mount Morris and Caneadea. Chapter 339 – Reservoir to be built at Conesus lake. Portage tunnel abandoned; new contract let for open cut.
1849	Chapter 222 – Lakes Conesus, Canadice, {see errata.} Honeoye and Hemlock to be used for canal purposes. Chapter 227 – Balance of $128,000, provided by chapter 263-1847, reappropriated. Chapter 229 – $140,000 appropriated. Locks from Mount Morris to Caneadea to be of wood.
1850	Chapter 192 – $170,000 appropriated. Portage aqueduct and open cut completed.
1851	Chapter 485 – Surplus revenues to be applied to completion by "canal-revenue-certificate" plan. Canal from Shaker settlement to feeder near Ronnesville, 36 miles, opened. Dansville slip and basin assumed by State.
1852	Contracts let, pursuant to chapter 485-1851. Thirty-seven locks completed during year. Mount Morris dam completed, 337 feet long, 25 feet high, cost $45,000. Wiscoy aqueduct completed. Court of Appeals declares chapter 485-1851 unconstitutional.
1853	Chapter 620 – $100,000 appropriated. Eighty-three locks completed.
1854	Chapter 329 – $65,000 appropriated for completing canal. Chapter 330 – $66,000 appropriated for completing canal after October 1. Chapter 331 – Survey to be made for navigable feeder to Wellsville 19 miles. Constitution, Art. VII, Section 3, – Canal to be completed. Navigation extended 4.5 miles to Rockville, making 93 miles. Rockville reservoir repaired.
1855	Wellsville feeder reported unfavorably. New aqueduct built at Shakers and Scottsville. Contracts let for repairs for five years from February 1, 1856. August, – Rockville reservoir badly damaged by heavy rains; lets water into canal and seriously injures same.
1856	Chapter 148 – $32,000 appropriated for fiscal year. Chapter 149 – Survey ordered for extension from Olean to Millgrove, six miles. Canal completed from Rockville to Olean basin. Break near Fort Hill, maliciously done, suspends navigation four days.
1857	Chapter 247 – Extension to Millgrove to be built for $109,000. Chapter 365 – $63,142.36 appropriated. Rockville to Olean completed, 24 miles, total 117 miles. Extension to Millgrove contracted for. June 9, and November 10, – Breaks caused by floods; navigation suspended 10 and 4 days, respectively. Feeder built from Olean creek, 5 rods.
1858	Chapter 329 – $40,000 appropriated for canal proper and $61,212.36 for extension. Oil creek reservoir completed; 470 acres, dam 46 feet, average depth 25 feet.
1859	Chapter 149 – $17,700 to be raised by taxes. About 6 miles of extension completed.
1860	Chapter 213 – $28,365 appropriated for canal; $28,475 for extension.
1861	Chapter 211 – Damages caused by diverting Black creek in constructing canal to be compensated. July, – Canal board authorizes construction of a guard-lock near Allegheny river. (Completed same year.) September 27, – Freshet so badly injures canal and structures from Mount Morris to Olean that navigation is suspended for remainder of season. December, – Extension to Millgrove completed, 6.7 miles, completing canal.
1862	Chapter 137 – $8,000 reappropriated. Chapter 169 – Contracts to be closed September 1. Chapter 208 – Bridge to be built at Atkinson St., Rochester. April 22, – Survey to be made of Allegheny river. Tolls received for season, $35,921.70, largest amount ever obtained.
1863	Chapter 342 – Water in Oil creek reservoir to be raised 3 foot; dam built on Ischua creek; dams to be made 5 ft. high on creeks supplying extension. Chapter 482 – Bridges to be built at Plymouth Ave., Rochester, State St., Nunda, and at Mount Morris. (Completed 1864.) July 21, – Heavy rains cause much damage to canal, especially between Mt. Morris and Dansville.
1864	Chapter 170 – $85,000 appropriated to make Lime Lake a reservoir and rebuild 5 locks in rubble masonry. Oil creek reservoir raised 3 ft.; 450 acres. Plymouth Ave. bridge, Rochester, rebuilt of iron. Ischua feeder dam completed. August 17, – Caneadea aqueduct destroyed and great damage done to canal by severe storm.
1865	Chapter 104 – Nuisance at Cuylerville caused by canal leakage to be abated. March 16, 17, 18, – Freshet badly injures canal, Scottsville and Caneseraga creek aqueducts seriously damaged.
1866	Chapter 304 – $64,871.70 reappropriated from chapter 170-1864; also 6,936.26 added. Chapter 569 – Bridge to be built at Clay St., Rochester. (Built 1887.) Locks Nos. 11, 15, 31, 38 and 53 rebuilt of stone.
1867	Chapter 281 – Whipple arch truss bridge to be built at Nunda. Chapter 359 – Iron bridge to be built at Mt. Morris. Chapter 648 – Whipple iron bridge to be built at Hunter St., Rochester. Locks Nos. 14, 17, 18 and 30 rebuilt.
1868	Chapter 346 – $7,981.99 reappropriated from chapter 304-1866. Chapter 583 – State ditch east of and parallel with canal at Groveland and West Sparta to be reopened. Chapter 715 – $242,000 appropriated for improving Ischua feeder and aqueduct; widening channel; depressing bottom of guard-lock; removing Mud lock and changing plan of bridges.
1869	Chapter 877 – Appropriation for improvement of canal and construction of an iron bridge at Mt. Morris. Oil creek reservoir raised 6 feet more, 800 acres. State Engineer recommends additional steam dredge for canal.
1870	Chapter 767 – Appropriation for improving canal.
1871	Chapter 930 – Appropriation for moving lock No. 44 at Nunda, also for constructing stone abutments and docking at dam, Mt. Morris.
1872	Chapter 850 – Waters of Loon lake to be turned into Mill creek, Dansville, to supply water deficiency. January 1, – Flood in Genesee river sweeps away two spans of the Portage aqueduct. February 4, – Canal board divides canal into three sections instead of four. Summit level deepened and Oil Creek dam raised 2 feet.
1873	Chapter 643 – $18,537.94 appropriated for canal. Chapter 766 – Appropriations for bridge over Dansville branch at Woodville.
1874	Chapter 399 – Reappropriation of chapter 850-1872 and an additional appropriation for culvert under canal, Rochester.
1875	Chapter 17 – Board of Public Works, Rochester, may build a turntable bridge over canal at West Ave., assessing cost on property benefited. Chapter 499 – Canal board to examine and report as to sale of canal. Chapter 594 – Appropriation for bridge over canal at Mount Morris.
1876	Chapter 382 – Commission appointed to report as to disposition of canal. Chapter 386 – $40,000 appropriated for fiscal year.
1877	Chapter 404 – Canal to be abandoned September 30, 1878.
1878	Chapter 344 – Canal commissioners to sell the canal. June 25, – Break at Portville, caused by muskrats; navigation delayed 2 days.
1879	Chapter 522 – Superintendent of Public Works to sell canal after January 1, 1880.
1880	Chapter 326 – Canal between Mt. Morris and Cuba, Mt. Morris and Rochester, Cuba and Olean and Millgrove, may be sold to R. R. Co., $100 per mile; from Cuba reservoir to Rockville reservoir, from Allen’s creek feeder to Rochester, canal reserved.
1881	Chapter 157 – Sales of canal property to be advertised. Chapter 593 – Sanitary condition of abandoned canal at Groveland and Mount Morris to be improved. Chapter 666 – Water to be removed from abandoned canal at Rochester and water from Allen’s creek feeder carried across to Genesee river feeder.
1882	Chapter 166 – Wiscoy reservoir feeder and Ischua reservoir, Dansville branch, vested in certain parties.
1883	Ohio basin, Rochester, extended 500 feet up abandoned canal by permit of Superintendent of Public Works.
1887	Chapter 229 – Genesee Valley Canal R. R. Co. to release to Rochester canal lands to West Ave.
1889	Chapter 470 – Canal at Wheatlands and Chili to be drained. Senate Resolution – State Engineer to report whether advisable to repair reserved portion of canal as a feeder to Erie canal.
1890	Chapter 96 – Canal to be drained in Pine valley and at Millport.
1893	Chapter 399 – Reappropriation for improving sanitary condition of canal at Wheatlands and Chili, pursuant to chapter 470-1889.
1895	Chapter 219 – Reappropriation for sanitation of abandoned canal, pursuant to chapter 399-1893.
1905	Chapter 722 – Unexpended balance of fund for completion of canal transferred to canal-debt sinking fund.

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