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Erie Canal Towpath News and Events

July 29, 2020 by Editorial Staff Leave a Comment

boat exits lock 2 on the erie canal in waterfordThe Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor has announced a number of projects and upcoming events along the Erie Canal.

A mural of three swans soaring over the Erie Canal and countryside near the Village of Albion, Orleans County, NY,  was unveiled recently at the Hoag Library in Albion. Stacey Kirby Steward, an Albion native, created the 23-foot-long mural. Albion’s public library was known as Swan Library from 1900 to 2012. The new Hoag Library opened in July 2012. Due to pandemic precautions, you’ll have to wait to view the mural until the library reopens fully.

Three life-sized bronze statues were installed on the stone steps beside the Erie Canal locks in Lockport. The statues are the first of 14 to be placed beside the Flight of Five locks. Youngstown sculptor Susan Geissler will depict all the people in a locally renowned photo of a group of canal workers who posed on those steps in 1897, as well as the photographer who took the shot. Lockport’s Flight of Five Lock Tender Tours are available weekdays at 11 am, starting at the Erie Canal Discovery Center. Reservations are available online and must be made at least 24 hours in advance.

Erie Canalway was recently provided a guided tour of the Buffalo Maritime Center’s (BMC) long shed building now under construction at Buffalo’s Inner Harbor. Inside the new facility BMC will replicate the Seneca Chief, a packet boat used by Gov. DeWitt Clinton to “wed the waters” by pouring Lake Erie water into New York Harbor in the fall of 1825. The long shed, developed by the Erie Canal Harbor Development Corp., will be finished later this year and then BMC will actively share their boat building progress with thousands of visitors over the coming years in advance of major journeys on the NYS Canal System.

Located in Cohoes at the junction of the Hudson and Mohawk Rivers, Matton Shipyard turned out barges, tugboats and other medium sized craft between 1916 and 1983. Mark Peckham, trustee of the Hudson River Maritime Museum and former Erie Canalway commissioner, offered an in-depth look at the shipyard’s impressive history in a recent blog post.

The Department of Environmental Conservation recently completed major restoration and rehabilitation of the historic Cleveland Dock Fishing Access Site, located on Oneida Lake at 69 State Route 49 in the village of Cleveland. Now open to the public, the site provides unique access to the excellent fishing on Oneida Lake and boating access to the lake and NYS Canal System.

On August 1st, the towns of Newark and Lyons are set to host a Community Garage sale. Pick up a map to participating sites at the Port of Newark Visitor Center, 199 Van Buren Street, or at the Lyons Farmer’s Market; online maps/lists will be available after July 30th.

Photo: A boat exits lock 2 on the Erie Canal in Waterford, courtesy Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor.

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Filed Under: Adirondacks & NNY, Capital-Saratoga, Events, History, Hudson Valley - Catskills, Mohawk Valley, Recreation, Western NY Tagged With: boating, Erie Canal, Erie Canalway Heritage Corridor, fishing, paddling

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Stories written under the Editorial Staff byline are drawn from press releases and other notices. Submit your news to New York Almanack here.

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