Chittenango Landing Dry Dock Complex
The National Park Service has not published a boundary polygon for this district; the map shows the listed properties inside it and the district's reference point.
Why it's listed
Chittenango Landing Dry Dock Complex occupies a triangle of low land of about 6.6 acres in the Town of Sullivan, Madison County, New York, beside the Enlarged Erie Canal and the Chittenango Feeder. Built in 1856-57, it has three side-by-side bays, each serving a different load: a light dock for empty boats, a middle dock for partly loaded boats and a deeper dock for fully loaded boats. Water flowed in through gates from the canal, and a sluiceway about 1700 feet long carried it off to Chittenango Creek. Limestone retaining walls from 1897-98 line the canal edge. Historic photographs and maps show a busy boatbuilding and repair site with houses, a store, workshops and stables, and fifteen to twenty people worked there full-time in the later nineteenth century. It was listed for its role in canal commerce and transportation and for its engineering. The bays have been excavated, the gates reproduced and other foundations left for future archaeological study.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · catalog entry. Generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29).
| Period of significance | 1856-1917 |
|---|---|
| Styles | Other: canal boat dry dock |
| Areas of significance | Commerce, Engineering, Transportation |
| Acreage | 6.6 |
| Boundary source | not published |
| Full listing page | Chittenango Landing Dry Dock Complex (property record) |
What listing means for this property
This is a historic district. Buildings within its boundary are either contributing (they add to the district's significance) or non-contributing. Owners of contributing income-producing buildings can claim the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit; homeowners should look at state credits. National Register districts impose no design review by themselves; a local historic district ordinance, if one exists, does (the difference explained).
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.