The Finger Lakes
Deep glacier-carved lakes holding canal-era boats
Seneca and Cayuga lakes carried the coal, grain and passengers of the canal era on routes that fed the Erie Canal system.
Steamboats, canal boats and towed scows worked these deep New York lakes through the nineteenth century. Collisions, fires and sudden gales sent several to the bottom, where cold fresh water and great depth have kept them largely undisturbed.
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Records in These Waters
AvailableCity of Syracuse
AH-WR-0302Skaneateles, New York
Sank in stages: partially sank after being retired, was salvaged for parts, and finally dynamited to clear it, in the early 20th century · Passenger Steamer · 9 ft deep
AvailableFrank Bowley
AH-WR-0172Watkins Glen, New York
November 1869 · Canal Scow · Rests on a steep underwater slope; exact depth not published deep
AvailableFrontenac
AH-WR-0173Union Springs, New York
1907 · Sidewheel Steamboat · Shallow near shore deep
AvailableHammondsport Canal Boat
AH-WR-0934Hammondsport, New York
Loss date not established in the sources reviewed. · Canal Boat · 95-100 deep
AvailableOnnalinda
AH-WR-0933Canandaigua, New York
Dismantled for scrap and sunk in 1913. · Steamboat
AvailableOnondaga
AH-WR-0932Geneva, New York
Publicly scuttled with explosives in September 1898. · Paddle-Wheel Steamer · 400 ft deep
AvailableOssahinta
AH-WR-0303Skaneateles, New York
1914 · Passenger Steamer · 30 deep
AvailableSeneca Chief
AH-WR-0429Canandaigua, New York
1896 · Steam Yacht · 15 ft deep
AvailableSteuben
AH-WR-0430Seneca Lake, New York
19th century · Canal Boat
AvailableTanglewood Canal Boat
AH-WR-0935Tanglewood, Keuka Lake, New York
Loss date not established in the sources reviewed; the wreck was already resting on the lake bed when found by divers in 1955. · Canal Boat · 25-65 deep
AvailableUnidentified Canal Boat (Cayuga Lake, Aurora)
AH-WR-0432Aurora, New York
Mid-1800s; before July 1907 · Canal Boat · 70 ft deep
AvailableUnidentified Canal Boat (Seneca Lake)
AH-WR-0431Seneca Lake, New York
19th century · Canal Boat
