Mohawk or Iroquois Trail: Difference between revisions

As American settlers moved west the two branches of the Mohawk Trail were used heavily. [[New York Genealogy|New York]] invested in road improvements from Albany to Utica in 1793.<ref>"The Mohawk Turnpike" in ''RootsWeb'' at http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~tqpeiffer/Documents/Ancestral%20Migration%20Archives/Migration%20Webpage%20Folder/%281%29%20NORTHEASTERN%20US%20ROUTES/Mohawk%20Turnpike.htm (accessed 2 July 2011).</ref> Further, in 1794 New York authorized work on the [[Great Genesee Road]] from Utica to Caledonia and after 1798 to Buffalo.<ref name="Rte5">Wikipedia contributors, "New York State Route 5" in ''Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia'' at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_State_Route_5 (accessed 2 July 2011).</ref> The Genesee Road partially overlapped the west Fork of the Mohawk Trail as far as [[Albany County, New York Genealogy|Oneida]] and [[Madison County, New York Genealogy|Madison]] counties on its way to Fort Niagara. However, near [[Syracuse, New York|Syracuse]] the original Mohawk Trail took a more northerly route. In 1797 a weekly [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stagecoach stagecoach] began service between Utica and Geneva on the Seneca/Ontario county line. Each leg of the round trip took three days.<ref>"The Way West Through Northern Seneca County," http://www.co.seneca.ny.us/history/The%20Way%20West%20Through%20Northern%20Seneca%20County.pdf (accessed 2 July 2011).</ref> In 1798 the [[Great Genesee Road|Great Genesee Road]] became a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toll_road turnpike], a high quality toll road under private control.<ref name="Rte5" />  

But New York toll roads eventually had competition. Water travel on [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canal canals] was less expensive than road tolls. The [[Erie Canal]] was completed in sections: Rome to Utica 1819, Utica to Syracuse 1820, Brockport (west of Rochester) to Albany 1823, and the entire canal Albany to Buffalo opened 1825.<ref>Wikipedia contributors, "Erie Canal" in ''Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia'' at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Central_Railroad (accessed 2 July 2011).</ref> Moreover, several [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Railroads railroads] charging about the same as the canal began offering passenger service farther and farther west. Railroad service from Albany to Schenectady began 1831, to Utica 1836, to Auburn 1839, to Rochester in 1841, and to Buffalo in 1842. In 1853 the several railroads were merged into a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Central_Railroad New York Central Railroad] mainline from Albany to Buffalo.<ref>Wikipedia contributors, "New York Central Railroad" in ''Wikipedia: the Free Encyclopedia'' at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erie_Canal (accessed 2 July 2011).</ref> The decrease in toll revenues made the old turnpike company unprofitable. By 1852 it was dissolved and the former toll roads from Utica to Buffalo became public roads again.<ref name="Rte5" />