The Chute

[champy1013]

I suppose you can add information on this small stepped cascade, in Onondaga County, locally called 'the Chute', I guess also could be called 'Skaneateles Falls' since that's where it is. It is in Skaneateles creek, an interesting area in the fact that it is right above an area that once had a large factory right over the stream...

Below the falls, they channeled the stream using concrete on each side, forming what looks like a log plume - but all on level ground. Even in summer, the waterflow is very quick through the channel - so when we were younger we used to go swimming under the falls, and then lay back, and this flume would jet us down the stream into a nice dammed up pool at the end....a great summer place for birthday parties and the like.

There's tons of history on Skaneateles Creek in that manner - walking the nature trail will take you past the sites of at least 10 old factories - most started going out of business when the City of Syracuse started taking water from Skaneateles Lake, and regulating the output of the creek - thereby severely reducing the waterflow. Unfortunately, this had two side-effects - one, the business aspect of using the creek for waterpower - secondly, species such as rare freshwater mussels and the Atlantic Salmon no longer found the creek usable with reduced waterflow. It has also seem to have led to the decrease in Brook trout populations, (the only native trout species to New York). I remember catching them when I was younger - now I haven't caught one in 10 years...

The closure of the businesses on the stream led to the closure of the short line railroad track, that was one of the shortest in the nation. Only a few active factories remain on the creek - Madison Filtration, and the Welch Allyn factory.

Here are the approximate coordinates of the 'chute'
42°59'3.72"N
76°26'48.19"W

what is interesting, is some of it is posted, but some is accessible through the end of Britcher Road....not sure what the true status is...





This area of Skaneateles Creek has some great history...If anyone is around and wants recommendations, I have quite a few - even some more factory-made waterfalls that are very interesting...

[Matt]

Good information!
Is this in Skaneateles Falls. Is it the namesake of the village? If not, what is?
I think this could either make a profile page (Cascades of Skaneateles Creek) or an article or Photo Essay of Skaneateles creek. A description of the trail and some history on the sites with photos to accompany would bo cool. Maybe even a walking tour. I'm very interested in this area.

[champy1013]

It's hard to say what the namesake of the village is - along the nature trail (which basically runs along where the old Short Line Railroad was) there are numerous cascades. What is interesting is the one I photographed is probably one of the few ones that itself is in its' natural state (even though right below it the stream is artifically channeled by concrete). The rest still have concrete going over them, or are artifically channeled. In fact, there is one place where about 100 yards of the stream is still entombed underneath an old run down factory.

Lots of history in the area:

Skaneateles is all about the lake, although as a visitor it can be difficult to get on it. In the 1800's, early settlers built a small dam which created water power for the small mills and factories which lined the Outlet in the Village. Further, this created the uniform flow of water to Skaneateles Creek [flows North] and the subsequent water powered factories that populated both sides of the creek. Life was good for 100 years.

In 1895, the City of Syracuse exercised their rights to the water. This was not good, unless you were the City of Syracuse. To understand why, you need to know Skaneateles is one of only four water supplies that can be used un-filtered, and that Skaneateles Lake is 400 feet higher than Syracuse. The result was FREE, clean, clear water supplied by gravity.

Syracuse promptly built the masonry seawall (which you can sit on today) and and a higher dam and a huge conduit to the City, consuming millions of gallons each day. The result was terriffic for Syracuse and disastrous for the factories on Skaneateles Creek. You can see the foundations of several of these by walking the Charlie Major Nature Trail. Drive North on Jordan Street about 2 miles to the Hamlet of Mottville.

and:

the industries and businesses that had been located along Skaneateles Creek: The many chair factories, National and Stacey Chair shops ,the grist and saw mills, Amphion Piano Player Company ,the Elbridge Electrical Manufacturing Company (maker of electric motors ,generators, and producer of the first electric starter for automobiles had either all gone out of business or moved to Syracuse by 1913. They could not continue when the growing City of Syracuse demanded more water from Skaneateles Lake

[tjconheady]

if you want to see how terrible Syracuse is with bodies of water, just take a look at Onandaga lake

one of the few area Superfunds worse as the Love Canal in upstate NY

if I had a lake in my backyard (of the city), I would make that a nice tourist attraction, not a wastedump

[tjconheady]

speaking of which, i think this calls for a superfund section of nyfalls.com

[nvr2low]

looks like a nice place