Historical News and Views from the Empire State
Derrick Pratt, of Chittenango, has joined the Erie Canal Museum in Syracuse as Museum Educator.
In this new position Pratt is expected to identify and implement opportunities to grow the institution’s education services for all audiences, and provide engaging new programs that share the Erie Canal’s history and impact with classroom students, adult learners, travelers, and everyone living in Central New York. [Read more…] about Erie Canal Museum Hires Museum Educator
The public has been invited to pick up a free 2020 Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor calendar starting December 1, 2019 at selected libraries and visitor centers throughout the National Heritage Corridor.
The calendar features winning images from this year’s Erie Canalway photo contest. [Read more…] about Erie Canalway Calendar Available December 1st
The Friends of Schoharie Crossing have announced the completion of the three-mile long Eagle Trail at the Schoharie Crossing State Historic Site.
The Friends of Schoharie Crossing decided to undertake a non-traditional approach through Parks & Trails New York’s Adopt-A-Trail program. Instead of adopting an existing trail segment, this friends group decided to create and adopt an entirely new trail connection on New York State Canal Corporation-owned land. [Read more…] about New Eagle Trail Opens Near Lock 11, Schoharie Crossing
Schoharie Crossing State Historic Site is set to conduct its fifth annual Tuesday Talk series to recognize New York State History Month this November. Each week a speaker presents on regional or New York State history.
Historian Scott Haefner will discuss Transportation in the Mohawk Valley on November 12th. This presentation will explore the significance of the river valley in developing transportation to the West and covers the Bateaux era in the 18th century through Turnpikes, Canals and Railroads. Haefner is a Registered Public Historian and is the site manager of Old Fort Johnson, operated by the Montgomery County Historical Society. [Read more…] about Mohawk Valley Transportation History at Schoharie Crossing
The Preservation League of NYS has received a $33,000 grant from the 1772 Foundation. This grant is expected to allow the League, in partnership with Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor, to identify and study vacant and underutilized historic buildings along a portion of the NYS Canal System and Empire State Trail that could be sensitively repurposed to provide services for recreational travelers along that corridor.
The survey area will focus on a 90-mile radius around the League’s Albany headquarters, from Utica to Whitehall, all within the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor. [Read more…] about Empire Trail Historic Assessment Being Conducted, Utica to Whitehall
What follows is a message sent to the media by Arthur L. Simmons III, Executive Director of the Rome Historical Society regarding construction at the site of Fort Bull.
Fort Bull was one of several British forts that secured the portage between the Mohawk River and Wood Creek. In 1756, French troops, supported by allied Native Americans, marched overland from Fort La Presentation (present day Ogdensburg) and attacked the British fort on the Oneida Carry. The French destroyed Fort Bull and killed or captured nearly 60 of the British garrison. [Read more…] about Rome Historical Raises Concerns Over Fort Bull Construction Project
Twelve images that capture the beauty and character of the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor have been selected as winners of the 14th Annual Erie Canalway Photo Contest.
Judges selected first, second and third place photographs in four contest categories from nearly 250 entries. In addition, twelve photographs received an Honorable Mention. [Read more…] about Erie Canalway Photo Contest Winners Announced
The Mohawk River has been used as a transportation corridor since the beginning of human settlement. Indigenous people used the river to move east and west, as did the first European explorers and those who followed. The river was shallow and relatively slow flowing. Along the 120-miles between Rome and the Hudson river, there are two waterfalls. The largest of the two is near the eastern end of the river, where the water flows over a 90-foot high falls at Cohoes. At Little Falls the river flows over a series of rapids that are 45-feet in height. [Read more…] about Mohawk River Bridge Dams: Engineering Landmarks
The William G. Pomeroy Foundation has officially opened a new grant round of its Historic Transportation Canals Marker Grant Program. This historic marker program commemorates the history of canals across the U.S. Grants cover the entire cost of a marker, pole and shipping.
The Pomeroy Foundation is a private, grant-making foundation based in Syracuse. One of its main initiatives is to help people celebrate their community’s history through a variety of roadside marker grant programs, including its historic transportation canals program. [Read more…] about Grants Available for Canal History Markers
The New York State Museum is set to hold a book talk and gallery tour, focusing on the Erie Canal, on Wednesday, September 25th, from 6 to 8 pm.
Before the presentation, exhibit curator and Senior Historian Brad Utter will lead a themed exhibit tour of Enterprising Waters: New York’s Erie Canal in the South Hall of the Huxley Theatre. Utter will highlight what travel was like for tourists, travelers, and canalers. Highlighting artifacts and images in the exhibit, he will also discuss some of the popular tourist destinations in and around the canal in the 1800s. [Read more…] about Erie Canal Book Talk and Gallery Tour at NYS Museum