We are always excited when my son and his family come for a visit so we took them on a little trip back in time to Seneca Falls, NY. There’s a lot of history to be seen and understood as Seneca Falls was a hot bed for early manufacturing in the Finger Lakes. The Seneca River – now known as the Seneca-Cayuga Canal – supplied much of the power for the early grist mills, lumber mills, and cloth weaving mills that were located there. Seneca Falls was the birth place of women’s suffrage as the women who worked in the factories demanded pay equal to the men who worked there. Today, the old Seneca Falls is buried under a large body of water known as Seneca Falls’ Harbor and Van Cleef Lake. The original falls were located in the vicinity of the old weaving mill which is being restored as a reminder of Seneca Falls past heritage.
Today the Canal is largely used as a recreation waterway and because it is connected to the Eire Canal, one can literally sail the world from Seneca Falls. Many pleasure boats tie up at the Seneca Harbor and stay for the night or perhaps for a few days as they make their way up River to Seneca Lake. I think that it’s a good spot to just relax and watch the boats from the benches along the Harbor or talk to their owners and perhaps dream a bit about what it would be like to live on a boat. There even was a little fair going on at the Park which is adjacent to the Seneca Falls Harbor.
And then down River, there are two large locks (CS#2 and CS#3) which lower the boats from Van Cleef Lake to the level of Cayuga Lake some 60 feet below. I was quite impressed when I first saw this pair of locks and I thought that my grandchildren would be equally impressed, but we didn’t even bother to stop.
Our adventure was relaxing for the adults but it certainly didn’t impress my grandchildren. Perhaps I have underestimated this thing that folks call “the generation gap!”