Schoharie Crossing State Historic Site

06/23/2026

has us enjoying another version of that classic Low-Bridge, or the "Erie Canal Song" - this time performed by Tracey Newman in 1965.

In 1965, I did 6 episodes of a public TV series called "What's New....

06/22/2026

Just in case anyone asks: Jim Bowie and the Erie Canal are two distinct chapters of 19th-century American history with no geographical or historical overlap.
Jim Bowie was a legendary frontiersman and knife-fighter best known for his death at the Alamo in 1836. Bowie made his name in Louisiana and Texas, having never lived in or been associated with New York.
And the Erie Canal is an engineering marvel completed in 1825 that connected the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean across upstate New York.

06/20/2026

Today is a good day to start planning your 2026 Pedal Paddle adventures!
DYK we have kayak racks and bike racks at the Aqueduct Boat Launch AND at out Yankee HIll Lock floating dock? Pedal or paddle in, paddle or pedal out and make Schoharie Crossing part of your Summer of Awesome!
Get out, Unplug, explore, do more!

06/19/2026

The connection between the Erie Canal and President Herbert Hoover centers on the bitter 1930 political debate over whether the federal government should take over and enlarge the New York waterway.

The House of Representatives passed the Rivers and Harbors Bill on July 3rd, 1930, which included a controversial measure authorizing the federalization and improvement of the Erie Canal. Midwestern politicians strongly opposed the Erie Canal measure. Led by Senator Arthur Vandenberg, opponents argued that New York was trying to "foist" the canal onto the federal government to deliberately stifle or sabotage the proposed St. Lawrence Waterway project.

As an engineer, President Hoover was a massive proponent of American inland waterways, but he was highly skeptical of adopting the Erie Canal as a federal project. The President publicly noted that there were numerous objections to it, particularly from other regions. Despite intense debates, the Rivers and Harbors legislation was signed into law in July 1930. The specific takeover of the Erie Canal was ultimately stymied by regional squabbles, and the waterway remained a state asset.

Image: The Library of Congress

06/17/2026

extra bonus awesome! Liaisons Plaisantes in 2017 performing at Schoharie Crossing State Historic Site!

06/17/2026

𝑫𝒊𝒅 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝑲𝒏𝒐𝒘?
There is more than one kind of Lock Tender as an occupation. We may be familiar along canal waterways that lock tenders operate the lift locks for barges to make their way across elevation changes, but there are also lock tenders that operate air lock systems for underground tunneling. These two transportation related occupations have been vital to the success of New York State.
Historically speaking, the air lock tenders have performed dangerous work since the latter part of the 19th century. In particular, as New York City’s human population and pre-eminence grew during the grand Victorian Era, a need for easier transportation avenues for people and goods meant tunnel’s went from theory to necessity. Most dangerously, several of these would need to be built not just underground, but under water as well.
Digging those tunnels was dangerous work, performed by laborers known as “Sandhogs,” who often suffered from what we now call decompression sickness (DCS), or the bends. Seepage and leaks could lead to complete breaks in tunnel walls, killing dozens of poorly paid laborers at a time. A major solution for both problems was pressurizing the tunnels as they were constructed.
These pressurizing systems would need an airlock, one tended by a highly skilled worker who could operate the system and monitor workers for symptoms of DCS. A job that still exists today for tunnel and underwater work.

Image 1 - 𝑊𝑜𝑟𝑘𝑒𝑟𝑠 𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑎𝑛 𝑎𝑖𝑟𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑘 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑑𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑢𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑙. 𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑐ℎ 14, 1905. 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑆𝑢𝑏𝑤𝑎𝑦 𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑃ℎ𝑜𝑡𝑜𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑝ℎ 𝐶𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛. 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑁𝑒𝑤 𝑌𝑜𝑟𝑘 𝐻𝑖𝑠𝑡𝑜𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙.
Image 2 - 𝐴𝑖𝑟 𝐿𝑜𝑐𝑘 𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑐𝑡 18, 𝑊.𝑅. 𝑊𝑜𝑟𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑡𝑜𝑛 𝐶𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑢𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝐶𝑜𝑚𝑝𝑎𝑛𝑦

A wonderful article on Sandhogs can be found here: https://revolutionsnewsstand.com/2023/03/24/the-sand-hogs-battle-the-bends-by-art-shields-from-labor-age-vol-14-no-2-february-1925/

06/15/2026

The boat launch on the west bank of Schoharie Creek (off Hartley Lane in the Town of Glen) is part of Schoharie Crossing State Historic Site. The entire area around this launch and into the creek is strictly a no wake zone to protect paddlers, anglers, and other vessels.
Under the NYS Navigation Law, all vessels must slow to a "no wake" idle speed whenever they are within at least 100 feet of a dock, pier, raft, anchored vessel, or shoreline.
All motorized watercraft must operate at idle speed, creating no wake, until safely out of the creek and into the Mohawk River.

06/14/2026

"There have been several constitutional concerns regarding the Erie Canal in its long and storied history. Not only have these questions been focused on construction, or improvements and navigation, but also surrounding the products that made up the cargo. The constitutionality of appropriations, regulations and taxes not only remained aimed at the New York State document, but the United States Constitution as well – as State laws that dealt with economic trade meant interstate commerce had to be considered.... One such observation can be made with the McEvoy Grain Elevator Law..."
𝑹𝑬𝑨𝑫 𝑴𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝑯𝒆𝒓𝒆:

grain, mcevoy, elevator, law