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Source of Inscription: Because pottery using this
design was produced by an unknown manufacturer, or a series
of manufacturers, and because the design does not include
an image of a specific location along the canal, the source
of the inscription is not known.
Border: Large medallions of canal boats and canal scenes.
Some Variations in Size and Type:
Pitchers: 5.25, 6.5, and 7 inches; (Reverse, Utica Inscriptions, 1824). Under spout,
American Coat of Arms with two fanciful* scenes of the canal above and below the design.)
Plates: 7.5 inches.
Description: In the center or the plate or pitcher
is an inscription eulogizing the Village of Utica in 1824.
The inscription reads "A VILLAGE IN THE STATE OF NEW YORK
THIRTY YEARS SINCE A WILDERNESS NOW (1824) INFERIOR TO NONE
IN THE WESTERN SECTION OF THE STATE, IN POPULATION, WEALTH
COMMERCIAL ENTERPRISE ACTIVE INDUSTRY & CIVIL IMPROVEMENT."
Historical Background: Until after the Revolutionary
War, Utica was a frontier post on the Mohawk River. It was
settled by Germans and later by colonists from New England.
Utica was incorporated as a village in 1798. The town
prospered with its fine dairy farms, being especially noted
for its cheese. In October 1819, just more than two years
after the groundbreaking ceremony at Rome, another crowd
gathered to celebrate the official opening of the first
section of the Erie Canal. The first section of the canal
completed ran approximately 15 miles between Rome and
Utica, New York. As the sluice gates opened, water rushed
into the 40-foot wide, 4-foot deep channel that was known
as "Clinton's Ditch." With that rush of water, the Chief
Engineer of Rome, became the first canal boat to float on
Erie Canal water. The canal from Rochester to Utica was
finished in 1823. This stimulated trade.
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