{"nrhp_refnum":"95001011","name":"Neck Canal of 1730","other_names":[],"category":"structure","location":{"address":"Cavanaugh Rd. (Co. Rt. 30)","address_restricted":false,"city":"Marcy","county":"Oneida County","state":"NY","lat":43.13014055000005,"lon":-75.2740406879111,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1995-08-15","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Exploration/Settlement","Transportation"],"significance_levels":["state"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A remnant hand-dug ditch about 200 feet long, cut in 1730 across a meander of the Mohawk River in the town of Marcy, Oneida County, New York, between Utica and Rome. It is classed as a structure on a 9-acre parcel.","why_significant":"The nomination argues it is the earliest extant example of an artificial navigable waterway in New York State. It is documented on mid-eighteenth-century British military maps as \"The Neck digged through in 1730,\" and it survived because later Barge Canal construction and river realignment isolated it. It is tied to early Mohawk River trade and navigation and is considered a forerunner of later canal engineering.","narrative":"A shallow ditch in a low marsh near Marcy, New York, is all that remains of what the nomination calls the state's first canal. In 1730, river boatmen are believed to have dug it with shovels across the narrow neck of a Mohawk River loop, shortcutting one of the river's many winding bends. The channel measured roughly 3 feet deep, 20 feet wide and 200 feet long. British military maps of about 1756 to 1759 label the spot as the neck dug through in 1730. The river later changed course, and early twentieth-century Barge Canal construction realigned the Mohawk, which isolated the ditch and protected it. State Museum researchers rediscovered it in 1992-93. Today it appears only as a faint depression that holds water at times. It was listed for its great age and rarity, its link to early Mohawk trade and navigation, and its survival, as the earliest known effort to improve colonial New York's main inland waterway.","period_of_significance":"1730","architect_builder":null,"architectural_style":null,"criteria":["A","C"],"status_note":"Abandoned and dry except during rainy periods; now only a slight depression, scarcely visible on the ground, with moderate integrity. Listed function is vacant/not in use.","vacant_flag":true,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:51:51.021978-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_NY/95001011.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75320235","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neck_Canal_of_1730","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6985511"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/new-york/oneida-county/neck-canal-of-1730-95001011/"}