Mary H. Owen | #tbt

Today’s throwback Thursday photo shows the Mary H. Owen navigating a lock on the Chenango Canal in Broome County. The canal was nearly 100 miles long and connected the Susquehanna River at Binghamton to the Erie Canal at Utica. When it opened in 1837, the canal drastically reduced shipping times and freight costs. As a part of the Erie Canal system, the Chenango Canal also connected the region's farmers and manufacturers to the economic markets of New York City and the Great Lakes. However, by the late 1800s the railroad had all but replaced the once great canals of New York and the Chenango Canal ceased operation in 1878.Learn more about the agricultural history of Upstate New York during the premiere of Harvest, a new documentary from WSKG, on November 19^th at 8PM. Photograph courtesy of the Broome County Historical Society.