Students of the New York period of the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints may have, at times, neglected the important role of the canal systems in western New York state. For a time, Palmyra, New York, boasted a bright future because it was a designated stop on the Erie Canal.
Site of the beautiful park-like area commemorating the historic junction of the Erie and Cayuga-Seneca Canals, Montezuma, New York. | Kenneth Mays
Some early members of the Church of Christ (later, the LDS Church) led by Lucy Mack Smith traveled on the Cayuga-Seneca Canal. They began this segment of their journey near Waterloo, New York, and passed through Seneca Falls, New York, on their way to the junction with the Erie Canal. They turned west on the Erie Canal, eventually passing through Palmyra and on to Buffalo, New York.
Church members from Colesville, New York, would have picked up the Cayuga-Seneca Canal at the north end of Cayuga Lake and then passed through the same intersection with the Erie Canal.
Interpretive panel at the site of the junction of the Erie and Cayuga-Seneca Canals, Montezuma, New York. | Kenneth Mays
The site of the junction of the Erie and Cayuga-Seneca Canals has been preserved at Montezuma, Cayuga County, New York. An interpretive panel on site notes that this junction opened up navigation on several of the Finger Lakes beginning in 1828. The local community has provided much to acquire the land and provided volunteer labor to make the junction site attractive as well as instructive. Many of the original stones lining the canal are still visible preserving the route of the two canals.