Dying NEW YORK Villages Along The Ruins Of The Erie Canal

Chester Gillette was my great-great grandfather! Wow!! I always heard stories about him!

Joe & Nicole, you guys are way cool! Thanks for sharing your journey with the rest of us. Your presentations are smart, clever and insightful with your total respect for the towns and cities you visit.

HAVE A GREAT WEEK...JOE AND NIC ❤

Thanks for the wonderful travelogue. The history of the towns along the Erie Canal and the canal itself are fascinating. It’s a trip that the original canal that was built was only a few feet deep and they used horses to drag the barges along the parallel tow path. My dad and I spent a lot of time exploring all this before he passed. Wonderful to see it again from afar.

I lived in NYC for 20 years from 1998-2018. When zip car came out, my friends and I would pool our money together and take long rides all over upstate NY. These villages and towns are some are the most gorgeous places you will ever visit. Several are right out of a Norman Rockwell painting. Many do not love the city folk coming up with all their fashion and self importance, I don’t blame them. American spirit and beauty all around. The land of the great Haudenosaunee Confederacy! History is felt in all these little towns and stretches of forest. If you visit NYC, take a short trip up the Hudson and you’ll see some of these beautiful towns.

These old towns are amazing ! Fascinating history, and I love the old photos ! So many beautiful old buildings and homes. Cat sighting, awesome ! Thanks so much, Joe and Nic, a very enjoyable and interesting video, as always !😊💚

I grew up and raised 3 of our 4 sons in Ilion (ill-e-un), NY. It was a wonderful village to raise a family when I grew up....tree-lined streets, booming factories that kept families there, etc. A LOT has changed since then. Remington Arms closed in March (research it's local history). My Dad and many Uncles supported their families by working there. Downtown used to be the place to hang out when I was a kid...now it's non-existant... nothing for kids to do, as with many towns. As far as Herkimer, it got it's name from General Herkimer. Main Street's stores used to all be occupied and taken care of. The old school is beyond repair. The Valley is full of some incredible history and architecture! Drugs are rampant everywhere, sadly. I now live just outside of Richfield Springs...come check Richfield Springs, Cooperstown, and surrounding countrysides, and several lakes - no matter where you travel in our state - beautiful!

The Little Falls area is quite beautiful. It’s a shame to see so much infrastructure fading away. With so little population, it doesn’t stand much of a chance to recover.

Little Falls has most beautiful homes, and inexpensive too. A lovely little town fading away, so sad! Thank you, Joe. With your help and dedication I'm able to visit places almost impossible to see otherwise. I'm living in Turku, sw Finland

Another virtual tour 💖🇵🇭

Love the quirky, boxy homes in Little Falls. Cute as can be! The town reminds me of a beautiful aging lady. It's easy to see what it has been. It was nice to see the kitty on the banister. The light pole in the middle of the sidewalk in Ilion has GOT to have some interesting to tell. LOL It was good to see the Erie Canal. It's much wider than I ever expected from the drawings in my history books long ago. Thanks for the tour, Joe. Going to watch again and look closer at the boxy houses!

👍Maybe the camera didn't capture the beauty; but the name is resounding -- 'The Mohawk River' -- and it brings out a feeling of a 'noble savage' and his bravery and mennace amid the history of those surrounding, heavily forested hillsides. The gray and lowering 'gunpowder smoke' skies, too, are evocative of musket-n-tomahawk wars 👍

That Diner : Crazy Otto's is wonderful. I'll bet the food is classic Americana cuisine. My kind of place. Thank you for taking us with you on your travels.

Clean. very clean.. Nice work. Thanks..

A beautiful area.❤❤

Very interesting, thanks.

Great job on video my video traveling friend 😊

Go visit Olean NY. It HAD many Victorian homes and a mountain top amusement park called Cloud 9 with mini locomotive. Town was not the same after it closed

Spent many hours fishing and hiking along the canal in my younger days. Honestly, if it weren't for the poor economy, bad winters and high taxes in upstate NY, I might consider moving back there someday. It really is a beautiful place once you get out into the farm land and wilderness areas.

Even in The Hamptons , CVS is borded up. The chain is failing nationwide.