Seneca Museum of Waterways and Industry

The Seneca Museum of Waterways and Industry celebrates the rich industrial and canal history of Seneca Falls.

19th Century Drawing of Arnotte Mills courtesy of Seneca Falls Historical Society

The potential of the Seneca River attracted the early settlers to this area of the Finger Lakes in the 1790's. Early in the 19th century men of vision in Seneca Falls built waterwheels which were turned by the river's rapids. Damned and channeled in the next several decades, the river provided power for an ever-increasing number of mills and industries.

The Cayuga-Seneca Canal opened in 1817 (eight years before the Erie Canal was completed) and was joined to the Erie Canal in 1828. The network of New York canals made possible the economical transport of farm and factory products from this area to the East Coast and westward to the heartland of the mid-West. An era of prosperity began and New York became the Empire State .

The pump industry dominated in the 1840's with factories and foundries along the Canal. Frequent foundry fires led to the invention of pumps on wheels, and Seneca Falls became the fire engine capital of the world. Greater prosperity meant industrial and cultural development. Improved communication led to the religious and reform movements centered in western New York , including the first women's rights convention in Seneca Falls in 1848.

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