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The Central Trail: Onondaga to Rome
The eastern half of the Iroquois Trail, from the Onondaga council fire through Manlius, Chittenango, Canastota and Oneida Castle to the carrying place at Rome.
| Endpoints | Onondaga Valley → Jamesville → Manlius → Chittenango → Canastota → Oneida Castle → Verona → Rome |
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| Modern roads along the route | NY-173 Jamesville–Manlius; NY-5 (Seneca Turnpike) Manlius–Chittenango–Canastota–Oneida Castle; NY-365 Verona–Rome; I-90 (Thruway) parallels the route 3–5 km north |
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| Drawn on | Iroquois trails and villages, 1851 |
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This is the trail Beauchamp described in 1905 from Morgan’s map: from Onondaga east through Jamesville, Manlius, the Deep Spring, Chittenango, Canaseraga and Canastota to Oneida Castle, then northeast through Verona (Te-ona-tale) to the carrying place at Rome. It kept to the rising ground south of the Oneida Lake flats and crossed each of the north-flowing creeks, Limestone, Chittenango, Canaseraga and Oneida, near where NY-5 crosses them today.
At Rome the trail met the Mohawk. Goods were carried the two kilometres to Wood Creek and floated to Oneida Lake, which is why the site mattered enough for a fort. From Rome the valley trail continued down the Mohawk (see the Mohawk valley trail).
The overlay’s magenta line follows this route closely between Onondaga and Oneida Castle; east of Oneida Castle the 1962 drawing compresses the distance to Rome, so the warped trail bows north of NY-365.
Sources
Updated 2026-09-17. Where a route crosses private land today, stay on public roads and marked trails.