History, Natural History & the Arts
The Champlain Canal turns 200 this year and the Erie Canal will celebrate its 200th anniversary in 2025.
The Champlain Canal between the Hudson River and Lake Champlain at Whitehall was the first to open. Worked started on the Champlain Canal in October, 1816. The first boats operated in November, 1819, and was fully completed in 1823, two years before the Erie Canal was finished. [Read more…] about New York State Canals Bicentennial: Some History & Plans For Celebrations
Jeremiah J. Austin, Jr. was born in 1819, just 12 years after the first commercial steamboat trip on the Hudson River and two years after construction of the Erie Canal began at Rome, New York. His father Jeremiah J. Austin Sr. was a prominent Albany businessman involved in Hudson River commerce.
After the Erie Canal opened, freight could be transported all the way across the Great Lakes to the entrance to the canal at Buffalo and then along the canal to Albany where it was shipped down the Hudson River to New York Harbor. From there freight could be fairly easily transported to any port on the East Coast, Europe or the Caribbean. [Read more…] about Hudson River Towing: Austin’s Albany & Canal Line
Workers are shoring up the remains of the aqueduct at Schoharie Crossing State Historic Site in Fort Hunter, Montgomery County, NY.
With the water in the Erie Canal drawn down for the winter, the project is well into the construction phase. Workers are creating a large concrete wedge at the end of the piers and arches to act as a brace, so the arches won’t shift. Protections are being added around the base to prevent problems as the water rises in the spring. [Read more…] about A Schoharie Crossing Aqueduct Project Update
A transformative project with hopes to revitalize downtown Albany’s access to the Hudson River is being proposed. Unlike past projects and proposals, it would bring the river to Albany instead of bringing Albany to the river.
The plan includes a re-imagining of what was once the Albany Basin, once a bustling harbor at the foot of State Street. The Albany Basin was bounded by Quay Street on the west side and an earthen-filled pier, that extended over 4,000 feet in length, on the east. Thousands of vessels passed through the basin’s entry points during the city’s golden age.
The proposal calls for the creation of a short canal that would include an entrance from the Hudson River through the original Lock 1 of the historic Erie Canal located near the Central Warehouse and another just north of the USS Slater. It would include a wider basin in front of the Delaware & Hudson Building, which now serves as the SUNY Administration building. [Read more…] about Albany Waterway Canal Project Could Return Historic Hudson River Access
The New York State Canal Corporation has announced that water levels this navigation season in the Erie Canal between Lock E-30 (Macedon) and Locks E-34/35 (Lockport) will be consistent with levels maintained throughout 2022 – approximately one foot lower than historic levels. [Read more…] about Seeps Keep Erie Canal, Glens Falls Feeder Canal Levels Lower
In partnership with the Fitness Inclusion Network at SUNY Upstate’s Golisano Center for Special Needs, the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor has announced the launch of a Virtual 1st Mile Challenge for people with mobility challenges. [Read more…] about Erie Canalway Virtual 1st Mile Challenge Launched
The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (State Parks) has announced that construction has begun on a $1.7 million project to stabilize the historic Erie Canal Aqueduct at Schoharie Crossing State Historic Site in Montgomery County.
The aqueduct, which was built in 1841, is within the Erie Canal National Heritage Corridor. [Read more…] about Erie Canal Aqueduct Stabilization Project Begins
John Isaac De Graff (October 2, 1783 – July 26, 1848) was a U.S. Representative from New York. Born in Schenectady, De Graff attended the common schools and Union College and engaged in mercantile pursuits and the practice of law in that city.
He served in the War of 1812 and was elected as a Jacksonian Democrat to the Twentieth Congress (March 4, 1827 – March 3, 1829). [Read more…] about John Isaac DeGraff: Schenectady’s First Elected Mayor
Squire Whipple was born in Hartwick, Massachusetts on September 16th, 1804. His parents were James and Electa Whipple. Born and raised on a farm, he attended a small country school for three or four months a year. He moved to New York in 1817.
By the age of seventeen, he passed the required examination for common school teaching and taught part time to finance his education. In 1822-1828 he attended Hartwick College in Otsego County; Fairfield Academy in Herkimer County; and graduated from Union College, Schenectady in 1830. He spent the next few years working as a surveyor for the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad and married Anna Case. [Read more…] about Albany’s Squire Whipple: Father of the Iron Truss Bridge
The Erie Canalway Heritage Corridor has announced the winners of the 17th Annual Erie Canalway Photo Contest.
Judges selected winning photos in four contest categories, along with 12 honorable mentions. Winners hail from across the Canalway Corridor. [Read more…] about Erie Canalway Photo Contest Winners Announced