Great Genesse Road

This website best viewed with Internet Explorer Browser

Top of page

Pioneer Woman (paleblue)

Introduction

Soon after the end of the American Revolution in 1783, a surge of westward migration into Central and Western New York began. At the time, most travel west of the Albany area was by water. While rudimentary roads were laid out following the Mohawk River, there were no major land routes west of Fort Schuyler (present day Utica), except for an old Iroquois trail that was a simple foot path. By the late 1780s many companies began to set up their operations in the new settlements in the Central and Western New York. As a result, there was a clamor for the building of a main road running west from Utica. On March 22, 1794, the New York state legislature passed a law calling for the laying out and improvement of a public road from old Fort Schuyler on the Mohawk River to the settlement of Canawaugus on the Genesee River, in as straight a line as the topography of the land will allow. This road was officially known as the "Great Genesee Road" and and was intended to give access to the New Military Tract. It generally followed an old Iroquois trail, extending through Oneida, Manlius, Onondaga Valley (south of modern Syracuse), Skaneateles, Auburn, Seneca Falls, Geneva, Canandaigua and on to Buffalo, New York. It is one of the earliest state roads in New York. Four years later, another legislative act authorized the extension of the Genesee Road to Buffalo.

By the end of the 18th century, while the Genesee Road has been greatly improved, many portions were still substandard and some sections had still not been completed. Although serving heavy traffic, the project remained incomplete until the state authorized a company of private investors to finish uncompleted sections. . On April 1, 1800, the Seneca Road Company was chartered for this purpose and the portion of the Genesee Road from Utica to Canandaigua was improved and operated as a toll road known as the Seneca Turnpike. Three days later, the old road following the Mohawk River between Utica and Schenectady also became a days later, the

Map of The Great Genesse Road

Click on the thumbnail map to view a full-sized image

old road following the Mohawk River between Utica and Schenectady also became a turnpike, known as the Mohawk Turnpike. The road leading from Albany northwest to Schenectady having been already established as a turnpike (the Albany and Schenectady Turnpike) in 1797, an all-turnpike route over good quality roads was now available from Albany to Canandaigua. The western extension of the Genesee Road to Buffalo soon followed suit and also became an improved toll road, the Ontario and Genesee Turnpike, in 1805. The Seneca Road Company was later authorized to create a more northerly alternate route of the Seneca Turnpike in 1806, through what is now Syracuse. As Syracuse developed, traffic patterns changed and the northern branch route became more heavily used than the original road.

The construction and opening of the Erie Canal in 1825 along the same alignment as the Albany to Buffalo route began to eat away at the revenues of these turnpike companies. In time, the turnpike business had become unprofitable and the companies were dissolved by 1852, causing the roads to revert to public control.

Road Trip

If you have traced your 18^th or 19^th century ancestors to any of the counties listed below it is quite possible that they traveled to that location along this migration route. Therefore you may find additional relevant information about your ancestral lineages by taking the following road trip through these localities.

COUNTY (Road Trip Segment)

Cayuga County, NY (2)

Erie County, NY (3)

Genesee County, NY (3)

Livingston County, NY (3)

Madison County, NY (1)

Monroe County, NY (2,3)

Niagara County, NY (3)

Oneida County, NY (1)

Onondoga County, NY (1)

Ontario County, NY (2)

Orleans County, NY (3)

Oswego County, NY (1)

Seneca County, NY (2)

Wayne County, NY (2)

Wyoming County, NY (3)

Yates County, NY (2)

Genealogy Road Trip

This “Genealogy Road Trip” is divided into segments that require between 1 and 2 hours of driving time.

The entire 200 mile journey should take approximately 4.00 hours to drive at 50 miles per hour. Within each segment you will find links to resources* that will assist you in planning a successful and enjoyable experience. The following maps are designed to show a close-up view of the counties and communities along this migration route. Relevant county seats are designated with a, beginning and end points of each segment are noted with a and historical sites with a .

SEGMENT 1

Utica, NY to

Skaneatales, NY

SEGMENT 2

Skaneatales, NY

to Lima, NY

SEGMENT 3

Lima, NY to

Buffalo, NY

Segment 1

Utica, NY to

Skaneatales, NY

228149- 2

Driving Distance = 70 miles; Driving Time = approximately 2.00 hours

Click on the map to view a full-sized image

Use the following LINKS to find information about the counties and localities found along this segment of the Route.

General Profile

Genealogy & History Resources

Historical Sites

228149- 4

Segment 2

Skaneatales, NY

to Lima, NY

228149- 2

Driving Distance = 66 miles; Driving Time = approximately 1.75 hours

Click on the map to view a full-sized image

Use the following LINKS to find information about the counties and localities found along this segment of the Route.

General Profile

Genealogy & History Resources

Historical Sites

228149- 4

Segment 3

Lima, NY to

Buffalo, NY

228149- 2

Driving Distance = 83 miles; Driving Time = approximately 2.00 hours

Click on the map to view a full-sized image

Use the following LINKS to find information about the counties and localities found along this segment of the Route.

General Profile

Genealogy & History Resources

Historical Sites

Internet Resources

The Google search engine

button and following web

sites may provide you

with additional information

to assist with your research

about this topic.

· American Migration Patterns

· Migration Routes, Roads & Trails

· Brethren Life: Migrations

· Trails West

· Historical U.S. roads and trails - Wikipedia

· U.S. Historical Maps - Perry-Castañeda Collection

· Early American Roads and Trails

· Frontier Trails: A Brief History

· MIGRATIONS.org

· ROOTS / MIGRATIONS

· American Migration Fact Sheets

· Map guide to American migration routes,1735-1815

· Migration Book Store

· Early Migration Routes

· The Overland Trail Links--Ancient Indian Trails

· American Westward Expansion

· Migration Message Boards – Ancestry.com

· The African-American Migration Experience

· Migration Trails – map of many U.S. trails

· Migration Information & Maps By Ethnic Group

· Madison County, NY

· New York State Route 5 - Wikipedia

· The Genesee Road

· Reminiscences of Onondaga Co., NY

· Great Genesee Road - FamilySearch.org

Download a free 2-page Fact Sheet

about American migration routes

Family Historian's
Reference Library

The following Link will take you to our library of genealogy reference books. Here you will find books about historic American roads, trails, and paths. In addition, there are texts that pertain to ethnic and religion groups, history, geography as well as other books that will assist you with your research.

This Link will take you to our

collection of reference books.

Image Gallery

During our research we have collected images and photographs that are of general interest to a variety of historic American roads, trails and migration. Some of them are presented on this website because we believe they tend to provide the reader with additional information which may aid in the understanding of this topic as well as our ancestors past lives.

The Great Genesee Road at Seneca Falls, NY

Use this LINK to see the “Image

Gallery” that pertain to this topic.

Free Image Search
help from Google

Use the power of Google™ to find more interesting images about this topic. This button will link you to the Google Images Search page. Enter the topic you are

searching in the box and click “Search Images”. At the “Images” display page you will see the image, as well as the website of which it is associated.

About this webpage

CONTACT INFORMATION

-- Email us with your comments or questions.

We do like to hear from others who are researching the same people and surnames.

We need your help to keep growing! So please Email us your

photos, stories, and other appropriate information about this topic.

RULES OF USE
You are welcome to download any information on this page that does not cite a copyright.

We only ask that if you have a personal website please create a link to our Home Page.

-- This webpage was last updated on --

01 October 2012