July 26th, Thursday – Seneca Falls Visitor Center, Part Two; New Table and Chairs

Wait, just one minute.  Could it be.  Nah, not possible.  But let me take another look.  Oh yea, that’s the sun in all it’s glory pouring through the dining room window.  Remarkable.  No complaints, though, after all the rain we’ve had.

In fact, this is the perfect day for what we have in mind which is a boat ride along the Seneca-Cayuga Canal.  It’s something we’ve been looking forward to but we just had to find the right day and that day is today.  So we were up and out in a reasonable time frame and headed back to Seneca Falls.

Before we get to the boat ride, however, we’re going back to the Seneca Falls Visitor Center.  We want to share with your some more interesting facts that we learned about the town.

Beginning with, the falls themselves.  There was a time, indeed, when Seneca Falls actually had a set of falls.  Rather high ones at that.

Lawrence Van Cleef, the first permanent white settler in the area opened a portage business to assist travelers in getting around the falls.

Then the falls were dammed in order to provide a ready source of power for a number of mills and factories.  In the early 1800’s, nine mills along the Seneca Falls produced 2,000 barrels of flour every day from the 9,000 bushels of wheat brought in from farms along the Finger Lakes and the canal.  Every few days another fleet of well-loaded boats left for the markets in Albany.

So where are the falls today?   They were leveled during the building of the present-day Barge Canal and so are no more.

We also learned that Seneca Falls was once known as the Pump Capital of the Americas.

Thomas Paine and Noah Caldwell perceived a need for pumps in all the prosperous farms in the region.  Rather than sit idly, while pumps were brought in by canal boat, they decided to manufacture them in the midst of the developing region.  Paine and Caldwell built and held a patent in 1835 for a wooden cylindrical pump, outfitted with a few wooden parts

In 1839, Paine and Caldwell opened a factory in Seneca Falls and their first pump was manufactured at this location, an event that would have worldwide repercussions.

Following in their footsteps, Abel Downs opened a factory in 1840 which made wooden pumps with iron bases.  The company struggled for many

years until 1851 when Seabury Gould joined the firm.  Eventually the company was reorganized and incorporated as Gould Pumps.  Today they are still located in Seneca Falls and it is the largest company exclusively dedicated to the manufacture of pumps.

It has been said that almost 25% of the pumps still used around the world were made in Seneca Falls.  By the middle of the 19^th century Seneca Falls was the center of a thriving industry that brought water into homes, emptied flooded mines and operated waterworks throughout America and around the world.

We also discovered that Seneca Falls was also once known as The Fire Engine Capital of the United States.

The first steam-operated fire engine was built in 1856 by the Sitsby Manufacturing Company of Seneca Falls.  It was widely successful and sold worldwide.

Today, the company is known as the LaFrance Fire Engine Company and is located now at Elmira, New York.

All the pump manufactures of Seneca Falls made equipment used in fire fighting across the United States.  Some machines were quite basic, such as the hand pumper shown below that was made by the Goulds Manufacturing Company around 1870.

Other companies in Seneca Falls also produced firefighting necessities such as hoses, axes, fire bells and fire buckets. Below is a picture of a restored Gleason and Bailey hose cart from the mid 1800’s

Here are the all-important fire bells with Barbara testing several types of them!

Perhaps though the most notable item of historical note that Seneca Falls is known for is that it was where the Women’s Rights Movement began.

In July 1848, Elizabeth Cady Stanton (middle) and several other women organized the

first convention in America to look at the social, civil and religious condition and rights of women.  Over 300 people attended the two-day event in Seneca Falls.  Sixty-eight women and thirty-two men signed the Declaration of Sentiments which boldly proclaimed all men and women are created equal.

Now, for the best part of our time in Seneca Falls, a ride along the canal and a trip through a lock.  What a day for such a trip.  Bright sunshine, temperatures in the mid 80’s but with a nice breeze on the water.  Rather, though, then try and cram it in tonight, I’ll share it with you in tomorrow’s blog.  Suffice to say it was awesome and so much fun.

One more thing, remember yesterday was furniture construction day?  Here are the two new chairs

And here are the table and chairs in their new space

Here is the new cover for our couch.

 

We picked up a couple of new throw rugs today for the kitchen and hallway, and new place mats for the table.  We’re still waiting on the new cabinets, possibly Monday.

So that brings us to the end of our day.  Thanks for sharing it with us.  We hope you, like us, learned something new.  We always enjoy discovering new things and unearthing new discoveries about a town or region that we are in.  So for now I’ll say goodnight and leave you with another thought to ponder:

As always,  if you are coming to the end of your day with concerns and worries, let me suggest that you turn them over to God.  After all, He is going to be up all night so why not let him handle them for you.

Time now for our evening prayers and eventually some shut-eye.  Till tomorrow.

These are the voyages of  Graybeard and it’s occupants, four paws and two humans.  Our continuing mission: to explore as many new states as possible, to seek out new acquaintances and make new friends, to boldly go where we have not been before