Canajoharie is a handsome little town south of the Mohawk River in Montgomery County, New York. It was an important trading area for the Mohawk Peoples before the Revolutionary War. Because the Mohawk and Iroquois allied with the British, the natives were forced to leave after the war, and the State of New York sold land to speculators. According to
Wikipedia, the town of Canajoharie suffered major fire three times. As a result, the town passed an ordnance prohibiting wood construction for homes. As a result, many of the handsome older homes in town are brick or locally-quarried stone.
This was Day 6 of the Erie Canal Bicycle Tour, and it had been a long 62 miles from Rome. And the last part of the day included a hill! But Canajoharie was really interesting, and the architecture was classic small-town Americana and photogenic. As usual, the residents were cheerful and welcoming.
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| Junction of Church, Mohawk, and Montgomery Streets |
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| Elegant stone building, Church and East Main Streets |
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| Mohawk and Church Streets |
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| Brick boarding house(?) or apartments at the junction of Mill and Rock Streets |
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| Church Street historic buildings |
I was pleased that most of the handsome 1800s buildings were clean and appeared to be occupied or in use commercially. Nice job.
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| Handsome cast-iron store front, 47 Church Street, Canajoharie |
Millions of storefronts throughout the United States used cast iron as both structural and ornamental elements in their construction in the late-1800s. As documented by the
National Park Service,
In the second half of the 19th century, the United States was in an era of tremendous economic and territorial growth. The use of iron in commercial and public buildings spread rapidly, and hundreds of iron-fronted buildings were erected in cities across the country from 1849 to beyond the turn of the century. Outstanding examples of iron-fronts exist in Baltimore, Galveston, Louisville, Milwaukee, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Richmond, Rochester (N.Y.), and especially New York City where the SoHo Cast Iron Historic District alone has 139 iron-fronted buildings. Regrettably, a large proportion of iron-fronts nationwide have been demolished in downtown redevelopment projects, especially since World War II.
Ah, yes, "redevelopment," which in USA often means let the developers pillage and raze older structures so that they and corrupt politicians can make a quick profit, regardless of the damage to social and architectural structures in the community. Quick, tell me how much mall architecture will be valued in the 2100s, let alone in decade. Quick, how many strip malls are worth anything architecturally?
Fortunately there is growing appreciation for cast iron construction and its decorative elements. The
National Park Service Technical Brief 11 covers some of the issues in rehabilitation.
A final historical note: this little town played a role in the Revolutionary War. You are always surrounded by history in New York, which added so much to the Erie Canal Tour.
These photographs are from a Moto G5 mobile camera. I used Photoshop Elements 11 to correct converging vertical lines for some of the frames.
