By Erica Barnes
For the Cazenovia Public Library
This year marks the 225th anniversary of Cazenovia’s founding in 1793. As part of the celebration, the Cazenovia Public Library is publishing a series of articles highlighting key factors in the village’s founding and development.
John Lincklaen’s original vision for Cazenovia was of a well-organized and bustling city on Lake Owahgena. Abundant water power, via the Chittenango Creek, would power mills and other industries, while well-graded turnpikes would facilitate trade with larger markets. And during the first 25 years of Cazenovia’s history, everything appeared to go as planned. Industry in the form of grist, timber and oil mills, as well as clock and cabinetmakers all flourished in the village.
To support the burgeoning industries of Cazenovia, Lincklaen personally sponsored and was chief investor in the Third Great Western Turnpike Road, now known as Route 20. It opened in 1811 and was integral in getting Cazenovia goods to Albany directly. Land prices in Cazenovia were at an all-time high and it looked like Lincklaen’s dream for a thriving city would be realized.
But then, in 1817, the largest public works project ever attempted by the U.S. government was begun in nearby Rome; the Erie Canal. Dug almost entirely by hand, it would link the port of New York City with the far western boundary of the country in Missouri. It eased transportation of goods and settlers to and from the hinterlands and the major ports and would change the nation’s landscape forever.
The trouble came for Cazenovia when the route of the Erie Canal bypassed our area in favor of larger markets like Syracuse and Rochester. Then, as now, rapid transportation of goods meant success or failure for a business. Suddenly, the industries of the village could no longer compete with the output of larger towns. The alternative was overland transportation to feeder canals, such as the Chenango system in Bouckville, but they were cost and time prohibitive. Possibly worse-still, the flow of immigrants to our more remote area dried up in favor of the western frontier. Without new settlers to buy, build and expand the area, Lincklaen’s plans for a successful city would not materialize. The value of land and businesses in Cazenovia quickly foundered. It wasn’t until the 1840’s when Lincklaen’s brother in law and heir, John Ledyard, completed the Plank Road system (Route 13), which connected mills on Chittenango Creek with the Erie Canal, that values stabilized.
Many historians believe the blow that the Erie Canal dealt to Cazenovia’s growth contributed to John Lincklaen’s anxiety and ill health. He turned over the running of the Land Office to John Ledyard in 1818 and passed away at age 53 in 1822. Ledyard, however, never ceased working towards Lincklaen’s dream of an industrious Cazenovia and would sponsor the building of many mills and the plans for future rail lines into the area. Although Lincklaen may have passed away worried for the future of his beloved village by the lake, he would have been proud of the future that awaited it. With the arrival of rail lines after the Civil War, Cazenovia would experience a resurgence of growth that would do credit to its founder and benefactor for years to come.
