The Erie Canal flows down Main Street of Palmyra, New York. Because the movie was shot in Tennessee, production designers actually built an artificial Erie Canal down the middle of the 19th century Main Street they had built.
The script required composer Sam Cardon to write an original period violin piece that the character of Lydia McBride would play. He anticipated that Tiffany Dupont, who plays Lydia would just act like she was playing for the camera and then they would mix the sound in for the final cut. But by mere chance, Tiffany Dupont majored in violin at the University of Georgia and she ended up playing the piece live for the camera.
Joshua Steed says he is regressing back to an ape but Charles Darwin didn't publish his theory of evolution till 1859. Almost 30 years after the time period in the film.