Wood Creek

This article is about the Oneida Lake tributary. For other uses, see Wood Creek (disambiguation).
Wood Creek
Looking upstream in June. Until 1820, canoes, batteaux, and 60-foot Durham boats would have passed many times each day.
Map. The eastern half of Lake Ontario runs across the top half of the map. The bottom half shows several slender lakes running north-south; these are the Finger Lakes. Oneida Lake and Wood Creek are to the east of the Finger Lakes, near the map's center. The map indicates numerous rivers flowing out of the Finger Lakes, out of Oneida Lake, and from other sources. These waters flow into Lake Ontario at Oswego.
Midway along Wood Creek. The lighter colored area indicates the Oswego River watershed; Wood Creek's source is at the edge of this watershed.
Native nameKa-ne-go-dick
Location
CountryUnited States
StateNew York
RegionOneida County, New York
Physical characteristics
SourceDelta Reservoir (since 1916)
 • coordinates43°16′55″N 75°27′04″W / 43.28194°N 75.45111°W / 43.28194; -75.45111
MouthOneida Lake
 • location
Sylvan Beach
 • coordinates
43°12′12″N 75°41′35″W / 43.20333°N 75.69306°W / 43.20333; -75.69306
U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Wood Creek
Map showing an area of 10 by 20 miles. A small portion of a lake is shown to the left; a small fortification is indicated on the shore of the lake that is labeled "Royal Blockhouse". A long, meandering creek (labeled Wood Creek) runs from the lake eastward towards the right of the map. At the right of the map there is a fortification that is labeled "Fort Stanwix". A river is shown near Fort Stanwix that does not connect to Wood Creek; the unnavigable region is labeled "Carrying Place one Mile".
A portion of Thomas Kitchin's 1772 map of the waterway connecting the Hudson River (at Albany) and Lake Ontario (at Oswego). This portion shows the section between Fort Stanwix on the Mohawk River and Oneida Lake (at left) that was traversed by Wood Creek. The route was used heavily in the 18th and early 19th centuries. Until 1797, there was an unnavigable section between the Mohawk and Wood Creek that is labeled "Carrying Place". Canada Creek joins Wood Creek about two miles downstream from the Carry.

Wood Creek is a river in Central New York State that flows westward from the city of Rome, New York to Oneida Lake. Its waters flow ultimately to Lake Ontario, which is the easternmost of the five Great Lakes. Wood Creek is less than 20 miles (32 km) long, but has great historical importance. Wood Creek was a crucial, fragile link in the main 18th and early 19th century waterway connecting the Atlantic seaboard of North America and its interior beyond the Appalachian Mountains. This waterway ran upstream from the Hudson River (at Albany, New York) along the Mohawk River. Near present day Rome, the Mohawk River is about one mile from Wood Creek across dry land. In the 18th century, cargo and boats were portaged between the Mohawk and Wood Creek; the crossing was called the "Oneida Carry". In 1797, the Rome Canal was completed and finally established an all-water route. The waterway then followed a downstream run along Wood Creek to the east end of Oneida Lake. After a 20 mile crossing to the west end of the lake, the waterway entered the Oswego River system. This system led either to the Lake Ontario port at Oswego, or further westward along the Seneca River.

The Mohawk River route was very important for more than a century. The only other waterway crossing the Appalachians lies far to the north in Canada. This was the St. Lawrence River, which flows northeast out of Lake Ontario to Montreal, Quebec City, and the Atlantic.[1][2] Philip Lord, Jr., for many years a researcher at the New York State Museum,[3] has published extensively on the Albany-Oswego waterway and on its Wood Creek section.

  1. ^ Lord, Jr., Philip L. (1993). The Neck on Mohawcks River - New York's First Canal. The Canal Society of New York State. Archived from the original on 2012-09-24.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference Lord01 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ "Philip Lord". Retrieved 2012-06-22.