Chemung Canal which connected to the Erie Canal. The growth of Southern Tier cities such as Elmira and Corning was enhanced by the canal. Emerson, Gary. (2004) "A Link in the Great Chain: a History of the Chemung Canal". Elmira: Chemung County Historical Society. Chemung Canal The Chemung Canal is a former canal in New York, United States. The canal connected Seneca Lake at Watkins Glen to the Chemung River at Elmira, New York. It was planned to connect the Finger Lakes region and Pennsylvania's Susquehanna River watershed with New York's Erie Canal system. The latter connected the Great Lakes with the
Erie Canal which is navigable upstream to the New York Barge Canal's Black Rock Lock and thence to the Canal's original "Western Terminus" at Buffalo's Inner Harbor. The growth of railroads and highways across the state, and the opening of the Saint Lawrence Seaway, caused commercial traffic on the canal to decline dramatically during the second half of the 20th century. In 1992, the New York State Barge Canal was renamed the New York State Canal System (including the Erie, Cayuga-Seneca, Oswego, and Champlain canals) and placed under the newly created New York State Canal Corporation, a subsidiary of the New York