053 Discover Watkins Glen NY - Where Water, Stone, History & Speed Meet

Discover New York Towns & Villages

Some New York communities are shaped by industry. Others grow around transportation, agriculture or natural resources.

Watkins Glen was shaped by all of them — but perhaps most dramatically, it was shaped by water.

Located at the southern end of Seneca Lake in Schuyler County, Watkins Glen is a small village with an unusually large story.

Here, glaciers helped create one of New York's great lakes. Water carved a spectacular gorge through layers of rock. Canals and railroads connected the community with distant markets. Tourism grew around the landscape.

Then, in the twentieth century, the quiet Finger Lakes village became one of the most important names in American automobile racing.

Start With the Landscape

To understand Watkins Glen, begin long before there was a village.

The Finger Lakes landscape was dramatically shaped during the Ice Age. Glaciers moved through existing river valleys, deepening and widening them into steep-sided troughs.

When the most recent glaciers retreated roughly 10,000 years ago, water filled those valleys and created the Finger Lakes we recognize today.

But the glaciers did something else.

They left tributary streams high above the newly deepened main valleys.

Those streams began cutting downward through layers of sedimentary rock as they attempted to reach the lower valleys and lakes.

The result can be seen throughout the Finger Lakes:

Gorges and waterfalls.

The Glen

At Watkins Glen, Glen Creek has carved an extraordinary passage through the rock.

Within approximately two miles, the stream descends about 400 feet, passing cliffs that reach approximately 200 feet high and creating 19 waterfalls.

The gorge trail takes visitors beside the water, through tunnels cut into the rock and even behind and beneath waterfalls.

But when walking through the gorge, it is worth looking beyond the waterfalls.

Look at the rock itself.

Notice the horizontal layers. Notice how some layers resist erosion better than others. Look at the curves, potholes and channels created by moving water carrying sand, gravel and stone.

The gorge is beautiful, but it is also a geology lesson that you can walk through.

People Were Here Long Before the Village

The history of Watkins Glen did not begin with European settlement.

The region around Seneca Lake was home to Haudenosaunee communities long before the modern village existed.

Near the southern end of the lake was a settlement known as Catharine's Town, associated with Catharine Montour, a prominent woman of French and Mohawk ancestry who married a Seneca leader.

During the American Revolution, the Sullivan-Clinton campaign moved through the region in 1779. American forces destroyed Indigenous communities, homes, crops and orchards throughout parts of Haudenosaunee territory.

Catharine's Town and its cornfields were burned on September 2, 1779.

This is an important part of the region's history and a reminder that the landscape visitors enjoy today has a human history extending far beyond the creation of parks, villages and tourist destinations.

A Village Begins

European-American settlement developed at the southern end of Seneca Lake during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.

The community carried several names during its early history, including Savoy, Salubria and Culverstown.

In 1828, Dr. Samuel Watkins developed plans for a village at the southern end of the lake, built the Jefferson Hotel and encouraged development.

The village was incorporated in 1842 under the name Jefferson.

In 1852, the name was changed to Watkins in honor of Samuel Watkins.

But the name still wasn't finished.

The Canal Changes Everything

As with so many New York communities, transportation became one of the keys to growth.

Construction of the Chemung Canal began in 1829 and was completed in 1833.

The approximately 23-mile canal connected Seneca Lake with the Chemung River.

That connection was much bigger than it might first appear.

Through New York's interconnected canal system, the Watkins area gained transportation connections toward the Erie Canal, Oswego Canal, Lake Ontario and markets throughout the state and beyond.

Commercial activity increased.

Boat building became an important local industry. Sawmills produced timbers and lumber for boats, docks and buildings.

Once again, geography and transportation worked together to shape a New York community.

Then Came the Railroad

Railroads eventually joined the transportation network.

Watkins became a hub where lake transportation, canals and railroads came together.

People arrived. Businesses grew. Agricultural products and manufactured goods could move more efficiently to distant markets.

Today, portions of that transportation history can still be explored along the Catharine Valley Trail, which follows sections of former railroad and canal corridors south of Watkins Glen.

An old transportation route has become a recreational route — another example of the landscape being reused by different generations.

People Came to See the Glen

During the nineteenth century, the spectacular gorge itself increasingly attracted visitors.

Tourism became part of the local economy as travelers came to experience the waterfalls and dramatic rock formations.

New York State acquired the glen and surrounding property in 1906, and the area eventually became Watkins Glen State Park.

The natural feature that had been carved slowly by water over thousands of years had become central to the identity of the community beside it.

Watkins Becomes Watkins Glen

That connection became official in 1926.

The Village of Watkins changed its name to:

Watkins Glen.

The gorge had become so closely associated with the community that it became part of the community's name.

And Then Came the Cars

Another chapter began in 1948.

Cameron Argetsinger, a Cornell University law student and sports-car enthusiast whose family had longstanding connections to the area, proposed holding an amateur road race at Watkins Glen.

The Watkins Glen Chamber of Commerce supported the idea.

Argetsinger designed a 6.6-mile course using public roads around the village and surrounding countryside.

The Watkins Glen Grand Prix was born.

Imagine standing in a quiet Finger Lakes community in 1948 and suddenly watching sports cars racing along roads normally used by local residents.

It must have been extraordinary.

From Village Roads to a Racetrack

Racing eventually moved away from public roads and onto dedicated courses.

The permanent racing facility that became Watkins Glen International developed outside the village.

Over the decades, Watkins Glen became associated with some of the biggest names and racing series in motorsports.

Formula One held the United States Grand Prix at Watkins Glen for years, and sports-car racing, IndyCar and NASCAR have all contributed to the track's history.

For racing fans, the words “The Glen” mean something entirely different from what they mean to hikers entering the gorge.

And somehow both meanings belong perfectly to Watkins Glen.

A Village Between a Lake and a Gorge

One of the most interesting things about Watkins Glen is how closely its natural and human geography come together.

To the north lies Seneca Lake.

Immediately beside the village rises the gorge.

Old transportation corridors follow the valleys.

The downtown developed between these natural features.

Roads climb toward farms, vineyards and the racetrack on the surrounding hills.

This isn't a community that happened to be built near interesting geography.

The geography explains why the community is here.

What to Notice When You Visit Watkins Glen

Start with the landscape.

Stand near the southern end of Seneca Lake and look at the hills surrounding you. Imagine enormous sheets of ice moving through this valley thousands of years ago.

Then enter the gorge.

Don't simply count the waterfalls.

Look at the layers of rock. Watch where the water flows rapidly and where it swirls. Look for evidence of erosion. Think about the enormous amount of time required for a small stream to create such a dramatic landscape.

When you return to the village, look for evidence of transportation history.

Think about canal boats and lake vessels carrying lumber, agricultural products and other goods.

Imagine passengers arriving by railroad.

Then picture something completely different:

Sports cars racing through the surrounding public roads in 1948.

Finally, look back toward the gorge.

The village once changed its own name because that natural feature had become such an important part of its identity.

Few communities demonstrate the relationship between geology, transportation, tourism and recreation as clearly as Watkins Glen.

Every Town Has a Story

Watkins Glen shows why exploring New York's towns and villages can reveal stories much larger than the communities themselves.

Glaciers shaped the valley.

Water carved the gorge.

Indigenous communities lived on the landscape.

Canals connected markets.

Railroads brought another transportation revolution.

Tourists came to experience the natural beauty.

And racing gave the name Watkins Glen an entirely new meaning around the world.

All of those stories exist in one small New York village.

When you visit Watkins Glen, don't simply see the waterfalls.

Look at the landscape around them and ask why everything is where it is.

That is when a beautiful place becomes an interesting place.

Discover New York Towns & Villages

This article is part of the Discover New York Towns & Villages series from Zehr Discover NYS. Together we'll explore communities across New York State and discover the geography, history, architecture, industries, transportation and people that helped make each place unique.

Learn the place. Explore the story. Discover New York.