RE: (erielack) River "Ports"

["Schuyler Larrabee" <schuyler.larrabee_@_verizon.net>]

If you use the web to look into this, you'll find that the location of Port Allegany was originally
called "Canoe Place."

I know that's cheating, but hey, that's what the web is for . . . .

SGL 

> -----Original Message-----
> From: erielack-owner_@_lists.elhts.org 
> [mailto:erielack-owner_@_lists.elhts.org] On Behalf Of Green
> Sent: Thursday, February 15, 2007 10:49 PM
> To: Erie Lackawanna List
> Subject: (erielack) River "Ports"
> 
> Many streams that do not look navigable today were very 
> navigable up through the 1800s before much of the virgin 
> forests were clear-cut for lumber and farmland.  The virgin 
> forest floor consisted of a very deep loam that accumulated 
> from generations of decaying plant matter.  This deep loam 
> acted as a sponge and retained enormous amounts of water, and 
> served to keep the water table at a significantly higher 
> level than it is today.  This is why many towns were named 
> "ports".  They actually were on a section of river that was 
> navigable in their early days.  Take Arkport, NY, for 
> example.  Arkport was (is) a stop on the Erie Buffalo 
> Division north of Hornell (required EL content).  Arkport is 
> also on the Canisteo River.  The Canisteo River of today is 
> but a tiny stream through the village.  However, Arkport got 
> its name because the settlers who logged and farmed the area 
> built flat-bottomed boats known as "arks".  They loaded up 
> these "arks" with grain, livestock and other good!
>  s and floated them down the Canisteo River...to the Tioga 
> River...to the Chemung River...to the Susquehanna River...and 
> finally to Chesapeake Bay - final destination Baltimore.  
> There the lumber and goods were sold and the settlers 
> returned to New York with their money to repeat the process 
> next year.  You could never do that from Arkport today.  In 
> fact, except for the spring runoff, the Canisteo River of 
> today is too shallow to navigate in many places for much of 
> its length, unless you are in a kayak or a canoe.  
> 
> In the same way the towns of Port Allegany and Coudersport 
> engaged in commerce as far as New Orleans via the Alleghany, 
> Ohio and Mississippi River systems.
> 
> The increased acreage of cleared land underwent years and 
> years of erosion, eventually wearing away the water retaining 
> loam and lowering the water table to the point where many 
> rivers and streams that were once navigable are no longer so.  
> 
> Thus endeth the historo-geological lesson for the day.
> 
> And no, I am not a tree-hugger.  I canoe.  Can you?  
> 
> David Green
> ELHS #1366
> 
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