Palentine Bridge and Canajoharie

My Water Post For Today.

I was going to just ignore the water in these photos, but since I am writing this on a Sunday and I actually don't have a post scheduled for Monday yet, here you go.

I have shown this area of the world in a water post about the Mohawk River and Erie Canal. You can see it, HERE.

I mentioned in the post that I did not get a photo of the actual bridge where the elevation change occurs on the Mohawk River. Obviously, I was mistaken. You can see the bridge, in the back of the second photo.

The first photo is of a tiny town called Canajoharie. It was known over the years for having a huge Beachnut Babyfood factory right there at the Confluence of the two waterways. The Beachnut factory has closed, from what I can see, though it's influence is still felt, by the beautiful museum like building near the factory and right by the bridge and downtown area. The downtown looks just like so much of the Upstate area of New York. Oswego comes to mind. Brick buildings that are linked together, one after the other. Late 1800's look to them, though I hope for the town's sake, that they are newer then that. It was pretty though and as I told the waitress at the pizza parlour I ate dinner at, it gave the town a nice feel.

Right across the Mohawk River was a different town. A quarter mile and a world away, so it seems. It is known as Palentine Bridge and it is a very small rural area. Just a wide spot on the road I took to get to the St. Kateri Shrine. As a matter of fact, it was the only town on that 10 mile stretch of road.

I had seen this park and monument as I drove down to the shrine, so on the way back, I stopped. It was just a piece of grass, some picnic tables along the river...and this structure. It didn't even have a legitimate place to park, but I did so in spite of that. Once I got up to the structure, I saw that it had a water pump inside it. No sign to indicate why the town would go out of its way, to build a castle like structure around a water pump. No searches are coming up with a reason, either. So here I am, showing it to you so that you can see that there is a monument to water, in the tiny town of Palentine Bridge.

I hope you enjoy... :-)

Update: I did a search in 2021 and found out this fountain marks the beginning of the Continental Road. The Continental Road leading from this village to Otsego Lake has been marked at this terminus by a drinking fountain of Vermont granite, by the DAR.

Washington appointed General John Sullivan to lead the expedition with Brigadier General James Clinton second in command. In 1779 Sullivan moved up the Susquehanna River from central Pennsylvania, while Clinton gathered 1,500 men on the Mohawk River in New York. Setting out from Canajoharie, Clinton moved south to Otsego Lake, the headwaters of the Susquehanna, to follow the river and link up with Sullivan near the New York-Pennsylvania border. It took Clinton’s men two weeks to cut a primitive road through the forests from the Mohawk Valley to a location on the Otsego Lake just below the current site of Hyde Hall. The approximate route of Clinton’s road is now known as the Continental Road, named after the Continental Army. You can read more about it, HERE.