It was rather cool spring day when I visited Seneca Falls and the sky was mostly overcast. But, this kind of day offered me the opportunity to take some spectacular water reflections along the Seneca-Cayuga Canal waterway and to think about the upcoming boating activity which occurs along the canal. The people who live along the waterway have already brought out their lawn chairs in preparation for warmer weather and a “canal side seat” to all of the boating activity along the canal.
Susan, Jeanette’s daughter, wants to learn about how the locks work and so when she brings the boys up this summer to the Finger Lakes, we will definitely visit the Seneca Falls locks which sit just about half a mile down stream from the village of Seneca Falls. The canal and the locks are now open for traffic but I wasn’t able to watch any boats passing through the locks on this particular weekday. There are two locks at Seneca Falls with a combined drop of about 60 feet.
Looking back up the canal to Seneca Falls, one can see the beautiful old Trinity Episcopal Church which sits along Van Cleef Lake. Last summer, there was a lot of construction activity at this church, but the repairs have been completed and everything seems quiet along the lake.
There has been a lot of activity all around Seneca Falls this winter. New signs have been erected which clearly mark out historical points of interest around the village. At the Harbor Canal there is a sign showing the location of the original three water falls in Seneca Falls. But the falls are all covered with water and are no longer visible. It does seem a bit strange that a village which was named after its water falls no longer has a water falls! But, I guess you can explain it with one word: progress.