History, Natural History & the Arts
The NYS Canal System is scheduled to open on Friday, May 20th at 7 am for the 2022 navigation season.
Standard hours of operation will be 7 am to 5 pm until October 12th, but busier locks and lift bridges will be open on demand until 10 pm. If adjustments to the schedule are necessary, the public will be notified accordingly. There are no tolls or fees for recreational use of the Canal system this year. [Read more…] about New York State Canal System Opens May 20th
The Oneida County History Center is set to host a virtual lecture with archaeologist David Staley, who will look at two sites along the former Erie and Chenango canals, on Wednesday, October 28th.
Staley will look at the limestone masonry, concrete, and iron remains found at these sites, and share how archaeological discoveries can contradict historic narratives and reveal shady political cronyism in Utica during the 1880s. [Read more…] about Canal Archaeology Virtual Lecture Set For Oct 27th
The next grant round of the William G. Pomeroy Foundation’s Historic Transportation Canal Marker Grant Program is now open.
This roadside marker program commemorates the historical significance of transportation canals in the United States. Grants cover the entire cost of a cast aluminum marker, pole and shipping. [Read more…] about Grants for Historic Markers Celebrating Canals Available
Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor has invited New Yorkers to take part in the 2020 Canalway Challenge, tracing history and tracking miles along New York’s canals and Canalway Trail.
Part fitness challenge, part journey of discovery, the Canalway Challenge is free and registration is open to people of all ages and abilities. [Read more…] about Canalway Challenge Promotes Health and History
The NYS Canal Corporation has announced that its maintenance and construction projects are set to resume on a regional basis under the “NY Forward Reopening” plan.
The tentative schedule calls for segments of the canal system to start opening beginning July 4th. [Read more…] about NYS Canal System Opening Update
Due to the on-going COVID-19 pandemic, the New York State Canal System will not open the locks to navigation on May 15th as previously announced. [Read more…] about NYS Canal System Opening Being Delayed
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 Rome Historical Society is set to host “Chenango Canal: The Million Dollar Ditch” a presentation and book signing with Wade A. Lallier on Thursday, August 15th at 7 pm.
With the completion of the Erie Canal across New York State, the construction of other canals then began to be proposed all along the Erie’s route. One of these lateral canals would connect the Susquehanna River at Binghamton to the Erie Canal in Utica. [Read more…] about Chenango Canal Presentation Planned For Rome, NY
The Oneida County History Center will host author Wade Allen Lallier for a signing of his new book Chenango Canal: The Million Dollar Ditch on Wednesday, September 20th, starting at 5:30 pm.
Chenango Canal: The Million Dollar Ditch chronicles the story of a central New York canal and how it changed the region. Touted as “the best built canal in New York State,” the canal was never profitable for the state, but did bring prosperity to the communities along its length. Lallier will discuss the canal’s history and impact on Oneida County. Copies of the book will be available for purchase and for the author to sign. [Read more…] about Chenango Canal Program Set For Oneida County
A new book by author Wade A. Lallier, Chenango Canal: The Million Dollar Ditch (Arcadia Publishing, 2017) chronicles the story of a Central New York State canal and how it changed the region. In 1825, the Omnibus Canal Bill had called for a survey of a canal linking the Susquehanna River at Binghamton to the Erie Canal in Utica. The idea of a canal was well received in the Chenango Valley but was opposed by many outside it. [Read more…] about Chenango Canal: A Million Dollar Ditch