New York Almanack

History, Natural History & the Arts

Cayuga-Seneca Canal

Call for Entries: 2014 Erie Canalway Photo Contest

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ErieCanalwayPhotoContest_Fairport_KathyEichorn2013Entries are being accepted through August 30, 2014 for the 9th annual Erie Canalway Photo Contest. Winning photos will be featured in the 2015 Erie Canalway calendar, which will be available free of charge in December.

Amateur and professional photographers are invited to submit prints and digital images in four contest categories: Bridges, Buildings and Locks; Fun and Festivities; On the Water; and the Nature of the Canal. Images must be taken within the National Heritage Corridor, which is comprised of the Erie, Oswego, Cayuga/Seneca, and Champlain Canals, their historic alignments, and surrounding communities. [Read more…] about Call for Entries: 2014 Erie Canalway Photo Contest

Free Directory of Canal Sites and Museums Available

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ErieCanalwaySiteDirectory_map-cover-montageErie Canalway National Heritage Corridor has produced a new directory of canal sites and museums to introduce New York State residents and visitors to more than 45 sites all along the NYS Canal System. The directory is available at numerous canal sites and visitor centers along the Erie, Oswego, Cayuga-Seneca, and Champlain Canals.

Each site showcases a different part of the canal’s legacy—from its famous locks and low bridges, to its transformation of New York State, to the prominent role it continues to play in shaping communities along its shores. [Read more…] about Free Directory of Canal Sites and Museums Available

National Register Nomination for NYS Barge Canal

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nys_barge_canal_system_map-100In recognition of a near century of service, Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor – in collaboration with the NYS Canal Corporation, the Heritage Documentation Program of the National Park Service, and NYS Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation – is sponsoring the nomination of the NYS Barge Canal System to the National Register of Historic Places.

The nomination includes the currently operational New York State Barge Canal, including the Erie, Champlain, Oswego, and Cayuga-Seneca Canals. The period of significance for the nomination is 1905, when construction began, through 1963. If approved, the historic district will include over 250 structures – every lock, lift bridge, guard gate, and dry dock on the system. [Read more…] about National Register Nomination for NYS Barge Canal

The Cat Tail Company: Montezuma Fibre

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17234smallOn Monday, February 19th, 1917, Bankruptcy Referee Stone closed the books on the Montezuma Fibre Company, ending the short history of a business now forgotten. The company was $69,876 dollars in debt and the investors of the company were going to lose all. After ten years of business, the company had only $1,619 left in the bank.

The Montezuma Fibre Company had it origins in 1906 when Eugene Kimmey of Syracuse came up with a process to use flag (what we now call cat tails) as the main ingredient in making a heavy weight, cardboard like paper. The 20,000 acres of Montezuma swamps were filled with “Montezuma wheat”, or flag. It grew wild, it was easy to harvest and the land it grew on was cheap. In the late 1800’s many locals supplemented their income by harvesting and shipping flag to distant cities for use in the making chair seats and caulking barrels. But for all their efforts these men barely made a small dent in the vast swamp filled with cat tails. Thus, the raw material sat waiting for someone to invent a way to use it. [Read more…] about The Cat Tail Company: Montezuma Fibre

Montezuma Heritage Park: Interpreting Four Canals

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montezumaSince the mid- 1960’s. the idea of creating a park to celebrate the canal heritage of Montezuma New York has been tossed about. At the time, Town Supervisor Byron Lapp guided the purchase and consolidation of many acres of land located between the Seneca River and the hamlet of Montezuma. These acres, along with land owned by the State would eventually become the parkland.

The idea in the 60’s was to build a marina near the remains of the Montezuma or Seneca River Aqueduct. The idea was too big for the small community, and it was soon dropped. However, the land that had been acquired remained in Town hands. [Read more…] about Montezuma Heritage Park: Interpreting Four Canals

Call for Entries: 2012 Erie Canalway Photo Contest

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Entries are being accepted through Friday, September 7, 2012 for the 7th annual Erie Canalway Photo Contest. Winning photos will be displayed in the 2013 Erie Canalway calendar, which will be available free of charge in December.

Amateur and professional photographers are invited to submit prints and digital images in four contest categories: Bridges, Buildings and Locks; For the Fun of It; On the Water; and the Nature of the Canal.

The contest captures and shares the beauty, history, people, and distinctive character of the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor, which is comprised of the Erie, Oswego, Cayuga/Seneca, and Champlain Canals, and their historic alignments, and surrounding communities.

You can download official contest rules and an entry form online.

The Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor spans 524 miles across the full expanse of upstate New York, encompassing the Erie, Cayuga-Seneca, Oswego, and Champlain canals and their historic alignments, as well as more than 230 canal communities. Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor Commission, in partnership with the National Park Service, collaborates with government agencies, communities and organizations to protect and promote the canal corridor for all to use and enjoy.

Photo: 2011 First Place Photo Winner “The Locks at Lockport” by Stephen Bye.

New Canal-side Signs Planned for 2013

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The Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor in partnership with the NYS Canal Corporation will install new signs at 45 locks and canal-side access points all along the NYS Canal System in 2013.

Thirty-five of the kiosks will include a community orientation panel showing streets, trails, and points of interest within walking distance. Twenty sites will also have local history panels based on 19th century birdseye view lithographs and early 20th century postcards to share the history and significance of the canal system to the state and nation.

Installation locations are on NYS Canal Corporation land, in or near community centers. Most locations are on the opposite bank from the Canalway Trail to avoid duplication with existing trailhead signs. 

Each site will have a two or three-sided upright mount with exhibit panels that are  3’wide by 4’ tall. One side will carry a standard panel with a map, images, and text that describe the entire 524 mile long system. 
Scoping, design, mapping, and outreach to community representatives are already underway. Erie Canalway historian Duncan Hay conducted an initial round of site visits last summer and will travel with the project’s designer and cartographer during early August, visiting sites from Buffalo to Albany to Whitehall to confirm site and community information.

Locations have been selected to serve boaters, trail users, and visitors arriving by car. The 45 kiosk locations are as follows:

Erie Canal 

• Tonawanda/North Tonawanda, Erie & Niagara Counties

• Lockport, Niagara County

• Medina (Towns of Ridgeway & Shelby, Orleans County)

• Albion (Towns of Albion & Gaines, Orleans County)

• Holley (Town of Murray, Orleans County)

• Brockport (Town of Sweden, Monroe County)

• Spencerport (Town of Ogden, Monroe County)

• Lock E32, Town of Pittsford, Monroe County

• Pittsford (Town of Pittsford, Monroe County)

• Fairport (Town of Perinton, Monroe County)

• Newark (Town of Arcadia, Wayne County)

• Lyons (Town of Lyons, Wayne County)

• Baldwinsville (Towns of Lysander & Van Buren, Onondaga County)

• Brewerton (Town of Cicero, Onondaga County)

• Sylvan Beach (Town of Vienna, Oneida County)

• Rome (Oneida County)

• Lock E20, town of Marcy, Oneida County

• Utica (Oneida County)

• Ilion (Herkimer County)

• Herkimer (Herkimer County)

• Little Falls (Herkimer County)

• Saint Johnsville (Town of St. Johnsville, Montgomery County)

• Fort Plain (Town of Minden, Montgomery County)

• Canajoharie (Town of Canajoharie, Montgomery County)

• Fonda (Town of Mohawk, Montgomery County)

• Lock E12 Tribes Hill/Fort Hunter (Towns of Mohawk & Glen, Montgomery County)

• Lock E11, Amsterdam, Montgomery County

• Amsterdam (Montgomery County)

• Lock E9, Town of Glenville, Schenectady County

• Lock E8, Town of Rotterdam, Schenectady County

• Lock E7, Town of Niskayuna, Schenectady County

• Waterford (Town of Waterford, Saratoga County)

Cayuga-Seneca Canal 

• Watkins Glen (Town of Dix, Schuyler County)

• Geneva (Ontario County) Lakefront Park

• Waterloo (Town of Waterloo, Seneca County)

• Seneca Falls (Town of Seneca Falls, Seneca County)

• Ithaca (Tompkins County)

• Lock CS1, Town of Aurelius, Cayuga County

Oswego Canal 

• Phoenix (Town of Schroeppel, Oswego County)

• Fulton (Oswego County)

• Oswego (Oswego County)

Champlain Canal 

• Mechanicville (Saratoga County)

• Fort Edward (Town of Fort Edward, Washington County)

• Fort Ann (Town of Fort Ann, Washington County)

• Whitehall (Town of Whitehall, Washington County)

Call for Entries: 2012 Erie Canalway Photo Contest

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Entries are being accepted now through September 7, 2012 for the 7th annual Erie Canalway Photo Contest. Winning photos will be displayed in the 2013 Erie Canalway calendar.

Amateur and professional photographers are invited to submit prints and digital images in four contest categories: Bridges, Buildings and Locks; For the Fun of It; On the Water; and the Nature of the Canal.

The contest captures and shares the beauty, history, people, and  distinctive character of the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor, which is comprised of the Erie, Oswego, Cayuga/Seneca, and Champlain Canals, and their historic alignments, and surrounding communities.

Official contest rules and an entry form are available online.

The Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor spans 524 miles across the full expanse of upstate New York, encompassing the Erie, Cayuga-Seneca,  Oswego, and Champlain canals and their historic alignments, as well as more  than 230 canal communities. Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor Commission, in partnership with the National Park Service, collaborates with government agencies, communities and organizations to protect and  promote the canal corridor for all to use and enjoy.

Photo: 2011 Photo Contest Winner, “Lockport Locks” by Stephen Bye.

Canal Society of New York’s Winter Symposium

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The Canal Society of New York State has announced it’s Winter Symposium will be held Saturday, March 3, 2012 at the Warshof Conference Center at Monroe Community College’s Brighton Campus, 1000 East Henrietta Road in Rochester (Monroe Room A & B; Park in Lot M, Center Road; enter through lobby at northeast corner of Building 3).

The Symposium includes papers on topics that are directly or indirectly related to historic or operating New York State Canals, canals and inland waterways worldwide, and the communities through which they run.

Further information, a including a summary of the agenda and pre-registration procedures may be found at the Society’s webpage; pre-registration forms are due by February 22nd.

Canal Society is an organization of canal enthusiasts who study New York canal history, including its effect on the life and economy of the State; exchange information; promote interest in the canals in the United States and abroad; educate the public and encourage preservation of canal records, relics, structures and sites; and help restore abandoned canals and historic vessels, including replicating their structures.

Founded in Buffalo on October13, 1956, the Canal Society is a not-for-profit educational organization that enables people to visit canal sites in New York State and beyond through regular, organized field trips, to share information and ideas about preserving canal history and traditions, and to advocate for canal renewal and development.

Illustration: The first issue of the Canal Society of New York State’s journal Bottoming Out.

Sixth Annual Canal Clean Sweep, April 15-17

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In recognition of Earth Day 2011 and in preparation for the upcoming 187th consecutive navigation season on the New York State Canal System, the New York State Canal Corporation is partnering with Parks & Trails New York, and the New York State Environmental Facilities Corporation (EFC) to sponsor the Sixth Annual Canal Clean Sweep during the weekend of April 15th-17th, 2011.

The Canal Clean Sweep highlights the growing significance of the Canal System and the Canalway Trail System as a recreational and tourism destination across the state by encouraging communities, not-for-profit organizations and volunteers to engage in cleanup and beautification activities along the Canal System and the Canalway Trail.

More than 90 communities, service groups, and businesses across the New York State Canal System are participating in the Canal Clean Sweep by hosting local clean up activities in Canal parks, along public promenades and on Canalway Trail segments in their region.

The New York State Canal System is comprised of four historic waterways, the Erie, the Champlain, the Oswego and the Cayuga-Seneca Canals. Spanning 524 miles across New York State, the waterway links the Hudson River, Lake Champlain, Lake Ontario, the Finger Lakes and the Niagara River with communities rich in history and culture.

For more information on the Sixth Annual Canal Clean Sweep or to help coordinate an event in your community, please visit www.ptny.org or contact Wally Elton with Parks & Trails New York at 518-434-1583 or welton@ptny.org.