Stop 21- Sim's Store: Stores and Markets

GPS- 43.052605, -76.303531

All these goods being transported along the canal would have been useless if there was no people on the other end who wanted them.

That's not a business model that last very long.

Without markets and stores to trade goods and services, 

the canal would have been nothing more that an expensive water feature

Here in Camillus a the Liz and Dave Beebe Erie Canal Park,

you can visit Sim's Store.

This building is a replica built for the park. 

The original store, Dill's Store stood across Devoe Rd 

on the path of the original Clinton's Ditch, 

which is still barely visible in the landscape on the trail 

behind the building 

This is a picture the original building along the canal

Here it is depicted in a painting

The Dill property on the 1859 map

The original Dill Homestead was extant until it burned in the 1960s

In this view from the 50s, the Dill House can be seen on the bottom edge 

by the dry section of the canal.

Its foundation walls are still visible in the overgrowth, 

on the trail on the western side of Devoe Rd

(pics from the Canal Park)

What made this place so special? Canal Stores were the link between farmers and tradesmen and getting their goods to market. Only so much product could be purchased locally, but markets in the big cities could get higher prices for goods. They also could add variety to life in area where basics abounded...but what fun luxuries like lace, cloth, and fine goods couldn't be produced locally....plus they could provide the local gossip if you stayed around for a game of checkers long enough 😎...

Camillus really became part mill town, part agriculture in its economy due to the canal, turnpikes, and later the railroad

Celebrating being along the old Erie Canal for 200 years...

this section opened up before the 1825 completion date!

Finally, farmers had an easy way to get their goods to market.

Also Nine Mile Creek (which is really 21.75 miles long), the one we just passed over to the east, provided power to a mill race, kept water levels up on the Jordan Level with the Camillus Feeder, and provided power for more mills both upstream and down from Camillus.

These stones were once part of a gate that controlled water flowing into the feeder

Located originally in the village, they were moved and put on display here.

So why does this part of the old Erie Canal still have water flowing in it?

Why didn't it suffer the same fate as Gere's Lock not far away?

(pic by Cori Wilson)

The answer is Liz and Dave Beebe.

They learned that Solvay Process intended to continue 

dumping waste into the canal bed in this area.

They bought the land on their own

and stopped Solvay Process in its tracks 

from dumping west of Warner's Rd.

Liz and Dave Beebe bought this property and saved it from being a dump for Solvay Process. They painstakingly and lovingly restored it with the help of many volunteers to make it the great place it is today.

https://eaglenewsonline.com/new/2012/03/02/camillus-erie-canal-park-celebrate-40th-birthday/?fbclid=IwAR0f0xYmwHm22yQX3Qu0ZDMwXB6f7H6_NBbY8rtQEkD6E87askOiJTee7vs

And at just over 50 years, the efforts of Liz and Dave Beebe and their army of volunteers 

have made this a stellar stop to learn about the Erie Canal

More about it here
https://eriecanalcamillus.org/

We stopped for a spell here at the Dill's Landing to unload some goods from Syracuse and load some goods up destined for Rochester. We have caught up on the recent news from newspapers and the Dills. We have resupplied our vessel with extra provisions...

and so we head off to our next stop...

(PS- This widewaters area, now a pond, was in front of the original store on Clinton's Ditch)