 |
 |
 |
 |
SEPTEMBER 2010
‘Low bridge, everybody down’
Rochester’s “Canal Communities”
By: Deborah Williams
More than 5,000 canal fans from throughout the world are expected in Rochester, NY, and the surrounding canal communities, for the World Canals Conference September 19-24.
The conference kicks off on September 19th with a more than 100 boat flotilla and a free Community Day from 1-5 pm at the Blue Cross Arena. There is also a cycling tour that ends in downtown Rochester.
Everyone is invited to enjoy live stage performances by the Erie Canal Cloggers, Young School of Irish Dance and Stricking Hammered Dulcimer Ensemble of Eastman School of Music.
Meet historic figures such as Dewitt Clinton and Susan B. Anthony as well as working folks from the 1800s like Annie, the best cook on the Erie Canal and Al, a wandering minstrel. Hear ghost stories from the Landmark Society’s annual ghost walk.
Erie Canal area authors will be reading and giving presentations about their books and signing copies.
Conference attendees have their pick of trips to area canal communities including Fairport and Pittsford. For Western New Yorkers the towns make great day or overnight trips anytime. During September and October canal boats offer regular tours. There are kayaks, canoes and bikes for rent to explore the canal and canal trail.
FAIRPORT
Fairport rates as one of the crown jewels of the Erie Canal. It boasts an award-winning winery, a downtown bridge that has made it into Ripley’s Believe or Not! sixteen times, a picturesque business district full of shops and restaurants, and the Colonial Belle, one of the canal’s largest tour boats.
According to a popular story, the village got its name from an early traveler who stopped at Mallet’s Tavern. As he was enjoying refreshments the traveler was overheard to comment, “This is truly a fair port.” When the village was incorporated in 1867, officials recalled his observation and named it Fairport. From the beginning of the canal’s operation, Fairport served as a port for farmers to bring their goods for shipment. Later, it became a booming industrial town.
Today, recreational boaters and tour boats have replaced the packet boats and barges of the past. There are modern overnight docking facilities for 30 boats right in the center of the village.
The Colonial Belle, a tour boat under the direction of affable Capt. Lee Poinan, occupies a prime spot along the canal. Like many of his fellow canal tour boat operators, this is his second career but one he clearly loves. On the tour, the first bridge the boat passes under is the famous Fairport Lift Bridge. Its claim to fame is that it is the only lift bridge in the world built on a bias. The south end is higher than the north end. No two angles in the bridge are the same and no corners on the bridge floor are square.
Tours include a history lesson from the captain sporting his signature white Panama hat. The boat clears the railroad bridge in Pittsford by inches. Everyone on the upper deck was ordered to sit down and duck — proving the truth of the classic canal song with the refrain —“Low bridge, everybody down.”
While in Fairport don’t miss the Royal Café, 15 North Main St., with the most wondrous gelato in some incredible flavors such as rose petal, peanut butter chocolate, green mint, a wide array of fruit flavors and smooth hazelnut.
PITTSFORD
Pittsford is a bustling canal village with one of the earliest and best-preserved collections of 19th century structures in the region. It is just a few miles down the canal from Fairport. The village was designated a “National Historic Preserve America Community” in 2005.
The village was a stagecoach trading post and a center of life on New York’s western frontier. Pittsford grew rapidly after the opening of the Erie Canal and was incorporated as a village on July 4, 1827.
Local entrepreneurs made fortunes from both canal construction and other businesses that benefited from the canal trade. Pittsford’s collection of Federal period buildings is evidence of the prosperity the community enjoyed during this period.
Today’s waterfront is due to the survival of historic canal warehouses, mills and silos, many of which have been renovated as boutiques and restaurants.
Since the mid-1800’s, Schoen Place alongside the Erie Canal, has been a center of commerce in the village. Named for Joseph Schoen, a successful produce wholesaler and coal dealer, it was the place where residents came for provisions, loading up their wagons with coal and produce.
Pittsford is one of the canal communities that parallels the original Erie Canal. The depression in the yards of homes along South Street marks the original canal. Pick up a copy of a village walking tour in the 1819 Little House Museum just behind Schoen Place. It is now the home of Historic Pittsford, an historic preservation organization. The walking tour takes about an hour.
The first stop is the Phoenix Hotel building just across the street. It was built in 1807 and served as a hotel until the early 1900s. Daniel Webster, General Lafayette, Commodore Vanderbilt, and Governor DeWitt Clinton are all believed to have been guests. During Civil War days it was a stop on the Underground Railroad, connecting with a cavern.
Visitors can step back in time on the Sam Patch, a tour boat designed as an old-fashioned canal packet boat. The narrow boats, pulled by mules or horses, carried mostly passengers and provided food and sleeping arrangements. They were long and narrow to accommodate the constricted demands of the early canal. They were the fastest way to travel, often exceeding the four mph speed limit and were given priority at the locks.
Sam Patch is named for the colorful daredevil who jumped Rochester’s Genesee Falls. Although Patch had twice jumped Niagara Falls and survived, he failed to surface after leaping 97 feet to the base of the Genesee Falls on Friday, November 13, 1829. His body was recovered at the mouth of the Genesee River the following spring.
Entertainer Cher traveled on the Sam Patch while visiting the area for a concert performance and her photo is displayed on the boat. She also visited the nearby Pittsford Wegmans dressed as, well, Cher — creating a memorable experience for the day’s shoppers.
The Wegmans store, considered the flagship of the Rochester-based award-winning supermarket chain, features Tastings, an elegant, open-kitchen restaurant. The Food Network honored Wegmans with the “Grocery Store Chain that Most Changed the Way We Shop” award.
Conference attendees will be dining at Richardson’s Canal House, the oldest original inn on the canal. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Buildings. Built in 1818, this was a pioneer canal hostelry known as the Bushnell’s Basin Hotel. It served as a public house for more than 100 years. Prohibition forced its closing and the building was converted to a private home and then abandoned. It even had a brief episode as a nudist colony. After restoration, it was reopened in 1979 as Richardson’s Canal House. Boaters can dock next door and diners can watch the boats along the waterway.
Another don’t miss restaurant is Simply Crepes, 7 Schoen Place, a casual and fun eatery for the whole family serving crepes for breakfast, lunch, dinner, desserts and snacks.
Travel Tip of the Month: For information on the Rochester area including Pittsford and Fairport visit www.visitrochester.com or call 800-677-7282 or 585-279-8300. For information on the World Canals Conference and activities visit www.wccrochester.org.
Deborah Williams is a veteran travel writer and regular contributor to WNY Family. She is also the author of “The Erie Canal Exploring New York’s Great Canals.” For more information visit www.deborahwilliams.com .
WNY Family Magazine is now on Facebook!
Click the link below to become a fan.
