Until 1851, when the Erie Railroad began operations, traffic was via the Canisteo River. The Erie ended that traffic, although an undated picture, which must be post-Erie since it includes a bicycle, shows a horse-drawn "stage" making two trips a day to Hornell. Aside from that the Erie was the sole route until 1892, when the Hornellsville & Canisteo Railway (a trolley line) linked Canisteo with Hornell; the trolley passed by the Erie station, linking it via Depot Street with the center of Canisteo, over half a mile away. By road, the main connection was the Canisteo River Road, today (2019) Steuben County route 29 between Canisteo and Hornell, route 119 between Canisteo and Cameron. The new hard-surface road between Hornell and Canisteo that later became New York Route 36 was built in 1912. (That road was destroyed by Hurricane Agnes in 1972; the current four-lane route is higher up.) With the growth of automobiles this replaced the railroad, Depot St. declined in importance, and Hornellsville Street was turned into West Main Street and the former Main St. into East Main St. All Erie service to Canisteo ended in the 1940s; there were still freight trains, but none stopped in Canisteo.