Town unveils historic marker recognizing hamlet of Coveville
The Town of Saratoga recently unveiled its first historic transportation Canal Marker recognizing the hamlet of Coveville along Champlain Canal.
The newly erected marker was made possible by a more than $1,000 donation from The William G. Pomeroy Foundation of Syracuse.
The town has been awarded three New York State Historic Markers and a Legends & Lore Marker from the William G. Pomeroy Foundation, which helps people celebrate their community’s history through a variety of roadside marker grant programs, including its historic transportation canals program.
“We are grateful to The William G. Pomeroy Foundation for providing the marker to recognize the hamlet of Coveville, it was a thriving canal hamlet that no longer exists,” Saratoga Town Deputy Supervisor
Michael McLoughlin said in a press release. “These markers are important to allow our residents and visitors connect with historic landscape of our community.”
At one time, Coveville had a store, a tavern and a school house.
The canal at this point afforded shipping facilities for potatoes, a considerable crop grown in the area.
One of Coveville’s first settlers was Col. Cornelius Van Veghten, who was a prominent Whig (Patriot) in the Revolution. Van Veghten had a mill on the west side of the present highway, Route 4 and the remains of the dam can still be seen.
The Town of Saratoga History Facebook page has a comprehensive history of Coveville including a short video.
The Coveville historic transportation Canal Marker is part of an ongoing project to develop the Route 4 section of the Town of Saratoga.
The town has been working on developing the old Champlain Canal Towpath into a multi-use trail. The completed trail section known as the March to Surrender Trail, which runs parallel with Route 4 south of Schuyler
House, begins next to the Battles of Saratoga Sword Surrender Site and ends 1.2 miles south near Garnsey’s Lane.
In addition, the town has a second canal path parallel with Route 4 from Wilbur Road south to the Town of Stillwater canal path.
The Town has also cleared and improved the Town of Saratoga - Lady Acland Boat Launch along Route 4 just south of Hanehan Road.
In 2019, the Friends of the Saratoga Battlefield completed constructing a memorial park at the location of the Sword Surrender site where British General Burgoyne surrendered a complete British army to American General Gates.
The Canal Marker and all these sites are along the Lakes to Locks Passage, which is a National Scenic Byway and an All-American Road. The sites are part of the Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area, Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor and Champlain Valley National Heritage Partnership.