Erie Canal Museum

Erie Canal Museum Open daily from 10AM - 4PM and housed in the 1850 Syracuse Weighlock Building. Come aboard a full size replica canal boat. Explore life in a canal town.
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The Erie Canal Museum showcases the only existing weighlock building in the United States, collects and conserves Erie Canal material, and promotes awareness of the Erie Canal's history and impact through educational programs. Learn about the man-made waterway that played a major role in the growth and development of our country. The Erie Canal Museum is a must-see for adults and children of all a

ges! The Erie Canal Museum is now open 7 days a week from 10 AM - 4 PM. Admission to the Museum is by donation, except during the Gingerbread Gallery. We have a suggested donation of $12/person. Any contribution you can provide is greatly appreciated. Want to show your support of the Erie Canal Museum? Become a member today! Visit http://eriecanalmuseum.org/membership/ for more information. Basic Membership: $50
Canaller Membership: $125+
Weighmaster Membership: $500+

the newly uncovered Lock 1 in Albany! Next Thursday, you'll have an opportunity to learn more about this incredible ex...
09/02/2026

the newly uncovered Lock 1 in Albany! Next Thursday, you'll have an opportunity to learn more about this incredible excavation as part of our Albany Beers, Bikes, and Barges ride. For more information and to register follow this link: https://www.simpletix.com/e/beers-bikes-barges-tickets-262431

This week's examines a man who is related to many of our upcoming programs here at ECM: Philip Schuyler.Schuyler was b...
09/01/2026

This week's examines a man who is related to many of our upcoming programs here at ECM: Philip Schuyler.

Schuyler was born into the prominent New York Dutch Schuyler family and spent most of his life around Albany. During the American Revolution he was appointed as a major general in the Continental Army, commanding the Northern Department until the 1777 fall of Fort Ticonderoga. He was also made an official Indian Commissioner, who first attempted to gain support from the Haudenosaunee but ultimately played a critical role in advocating for the devastating Sullivan Clinton Campaign as well the illegal treaties and the construction of major infrastructure projects that resulted in further Indigenous land dispossession.

In 1792, Schuyler served as president of the newly formed Western Inland Lock and Navigation Company, a private company that aimed to improve the navigation of the Mohawk River with small canals, locks, and dams, which is often considered a critical precursor to the Erie Canal. Given Schuyler's wartime experience with engineering, as well as his familiarity with European canals, he was for a short time in charge of the engineering works on this canal system as well, helping oversee some of the company's most important improvement.

Next week you have a chance to explore the history of his home town, Albany, when we partner with Historic Albany Foundation on September 10 to host a Beers, Bikes, and Barges ride around town. Register here: https://www.simpletix.com/e/beers-bikes-barges-tickets-262431

Additionally, on Friday, September 11th, we are partnering with Onondaga Historical Association and Skä•noñh - Great Law of Peace Center to host A. Lynn Smith to examine the 150th commemorations of the Sullivan Clinton Campaign, which you can learn more about here: https://www.simpletix.com/e/2026-sloan-lecture-series-tickets-243113

Today our is with Tah-won-ne-ahs or Governor Blacksnake.Blacksnake was a member of the Seneca Nation, born in the mid-...
08/25/2026

Today our is with Tah-won-ne-ahs or Governor Blacksnake.
Blacksnake was a member of the Seneca Nation, born in the mid-1700s on the shores of Seneca Lake. During the American Revolution he fought alongside the British and was part of Haudenosaunee diplomatic missions that met with George Washington and the Continental Congress to attempt to secure peace as the war concluded. Following the war he continued to work alongside his uncle Cornplanter and other Senecas to negotiate with federal officials and land speculators as they attempted to further dispossess the Haudenosaunee of their ancestral homelands. Blacksnake remained an influential member of the Seneca for his entire life, which lasted well over 100 years.
It was towards the end of his life, in the late 1850s, when Blacksnake became directly enmeshed in the the story of the New York State Canal System when land speculators attempted to occupy large parts of the Reservation while state engineers tried to condemn parts of the Oil Spring Reservation for use as a reservoir for the Genesee Valley Canal. In August 1858, Blacksnake testified in court that the territory was meant to be included in the 1797 Treaty of Big Tree and that Joseph Ellicott, agent for the Holland Land Company and future Canal Commissioner, had given him a map that indicated the Oil Spring Reservation was indeed Seneca land. In 1861 the NYS Court of Appeals found in favor of the Seneca in large part due to Blacksnake’s testimony, thus retaining much of the Reservation’s land and establishing a precedent for future land claims regarding the Oil Spring Reservation. Nonetheless, Canal engineers went forward with the construction of Cuba Lake, flooding or otherwise appropriating approximately 51 acres of the Reservation.
To learn more about the Erie Canal's impact on Indigenous communities, plus the commemoration of an important precursor to the Erie Canal, the Sullivan Clinton Campaign, check out our next two Sloan Lectures here: https://www.simpletix.com/e/2026-sloan-lecture-series-tickets-243113

to July 5, 1853, when the Fitzhugh Flour Mill in the canal port of Oswego caught fire and spread along the city's wate...
08/20/2026

to July 5, 1853, when the Fitzhugh Flour Mill in the canal port of Oswego caught fire and spread along the city's waterfront.
We see in this image an interesting window into the technological advancements that had swept through Upstate New York due to the opening of the Erie Canal a little over a quarter of a century earlier. The Canal itself was an engineering marvel, allowing for the quick and efficient movement of goods like grain between the Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean. The grain trade was in fact so important in the Canal Corridor that the machine powered grain elevator was also developed there, with Joseph Dart building the first such elevator in Buffalo in 1842, with this photo showing the rapid spread of that technology to other Great Lakes ports like Oswego. Finally, the photo itself is of historic note, as these were the early days of photography and local daguerreotype artist George N. Barnard saw a unique opportunity to capture the rapidly unfolding scene. The image was powerful enough that Barnard reproduced the image for sale and it is widely believed to be one of the earliest examples of photojournalism. Photography would of course have an important industrial history in the Canal Corridor years later when George Eastman founded his Eastman Kodak Company in Rochester. You can learn more about the many ways fire, both physical and metaphorical, shaped the Canal Corridor as well as offer us a unique window into the transformative effects on our new walking tour of Downtown Syracuse "Burned Over." For more info and to register visit this link: https://www.simpletix.com/e/2026-summer-walking-tours-tickets-273128

: Albany!Seen here are some pictures of previous years' Albany Beers, Bikes, and Barges rides and that's the location o...
08/19/2026

: Albany!

Seen here are some pictures of previous years' Albany Beers, Bikes, and Barges rides and that's the location of our next BBB as well. Follow along with a guide from the Historic Albany Foundation to learn more about the history of the Erie Canal's eastern terminus, plus this year there will probably be some information on the most recent developments in the excavation of historic Lock 1!

For more information and to register, visit this page: https://www.simpletix.com/e/beers-bikes-barges-tickets-262431

For today's we look at an underexplored canal interest of the man most associated with the Erie Canal: DeWitt Clinton....
08/18/2026

For today's we look at an underexplored canal interest of the man most associated with the Erie Canal: DeWitt Clinton.

Born into the powerful Clinton political family of New York, DeWitt Clinton is today best known for his role in spearheading the effort to construct a canal across New York linking the Great Lakes at Buffalo to the Hudson and therefore the Atlantic Ocean, with the original Erie Canal often referred to as "Clinton's Ditch." Contemporaries also recognized his importance to the Erie Canal, especially once the Canal opening in 1825 and revolutionized American transportation, leading many to seek his advice and support in their own proposed canal ventures.One such person was Aaron H. Palmer, who in 1826 approached Clinton with perhaps the most ambitious project of all in this era of "Canal Mania": constructing a canal connecting the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans through Nicaragua. In her book "Canal Dreamer: The Epic Quest to Connect the Atlantic and Pacific in the Age of Revolutions," Dr. Jessica Lepler explores what came both before and after this meeting and how this proposed canal is an incredible window into the rapidly changing world of the 1820s. We're happy to be hosting Dr. Lepler for a talk on this subject tomorrow night at 6pm. You can learn more and register here: https://www.simpletix.com/e/2026-sloan-lecture-series-tickets-243113

Pictured: Clinton around 1826, lithograph by George Catlin. Credit: Library of Congress

to Syracuse Canal Collapse of 1907. Located where the Erie Canal crossed over Onondaga Creek, the 1838 aqueduct was on...
08/06/2026

to Syracuse Canal Collapse of 1907.

Located where the Erie Canal crossed over Onondaga Creek, the 1838 aqueduct was one of the oldest structures on the enlarged canal and suffered from a poor foundation, old age, and the weight of surrounding structures. Additionally, the modern Barge Canal System was under construction and our records show that efforts were being taken to reduced expenditures on the soon to be defunct waterway.

Around 2pm on July 30th 1907, the aqueduct’s west arch collapsed, resulting in a 65 foot hole that would expand to 210 feet in length and tear away 203 feet of Canal wall. Thankfully, no people were killed in the accident, but five canal boats were sucked into the resulting whirlpool and three horses died. One of the structures putting weight on the aqueduct was Greenway’s, a brewery founded by English immigrant John Greenway in 1858. Greenway’s spanned an entire city block and rose eight stories high; part of the brewery collapsed in the 1907 accident. Repairing the aqueduct took a number of months and several tries. One of the most notable moments in the clean-up to the disaster was the burning of the canal boats stuck in the hole, which was a major event in the city, as evidenced by these images. By the 1920s, the Erie Canal in this area was filled in and paved over to create Erie Boulevard which passes over the repaired aqueduct. While Greenway’s is no longer standing, a new brewery occupies that same location: Talking Cursive!

Join us on August 13th for our Syracuse Beers, Bikes, and Barges tour where you’ll learn more about local brewing and Canal histories and end the night with a drink at Talking Cursive Brewing Company . Tickets for this event can be purchased by following this link: https://www.simpletix.com/e/beers-bikes-barges-tickets-262431

: the Susan B. Anthony Museum & House and surrounding neighborhood in Rochester!17 Madison Street was home to famed wo...
08/05/2026

: the Susan B. Anthony Museum & House and surrounding neighborhood in Rochester!

17 Madison Street was home to famed women's suffrage advocate Susan B. Anthony from 1866 to her death in 1906 and is a central location to the story of the women's rights movement as a result. The neighborhood in which she lived is also rich in history, with the Genesee Valley Canal having been located just blocks away, as well as the home of the garbage plate: Nick Tahou's. Next Wednesday, you have the opportunity to both explore this historic home and the surrounding neighborhood as part of our bus tour in partnership with the Onondaga Historical Association. To learn more and to register follow this link: https://www.simpletix.com/e/historic-bus-tour-of-rochester-tickets-254692

Today's features Myron Holley. An early canal advocate, Holley was one of two acting Canal Commissioners when the Erie...
08/04/2026

Today's features Myron Holley.

An early canal advocate, Holley was one of two acting Canal Commissioners when the Erie Canal began construction in 1817. He was tasked with being the Commission’s treasurer, thus he traveled the length of the canal as it was being constructed ensuring work was done on time and correctly, while also dispersing payment to contractors. However, he was politically a Clintonian, and in the early 1820 when DeWitt Clinton's political career was on the wane, Holley was removed from the Canal Commission on questionable charges of embezzlement. This was a sign of things to come, as Clinton himself would be removed from the Commission the following year. He ultimately acquitted himself a decade later but he had already forfeited nearly everything he owned to the state to pay back the money he had allegedly stolen. He eventually moved to Lyons and set up an influential newspaper that reflected the developing political views of the Canal in the early years after its opening, first acting as an Anti-Masonic paper before pivoting to abolitionism. He was a prominent enough abolitionist, in fact, that when the New York State Liberty Party was founded he was invited to be a keynote speaker at its inaugural meeting in Geneseo.

Holley's legacy can still be seen along the Canal he helped to build, with the canal town of Holley named in his honor, while you can also visit his grave in Rochester's Mt. Hope Cemetery. You actually have an opportunity to do just that, when the Erie Canal Museum and Onondaga Historical Association host a historic bus tour to Rochester next week, that will include a tour of the cemetery's notable canal burials. For more information and to register, follow this link: https://www.simpletix.com/e/historic-bus-tour-of-rochester-tickets-254692

Address

318 Erie Boulevard E
Syracuse, NY
13202

Opening Hours

Monday 10am - 4pm
Tuesday 10am - 4pm
Wednesday 10am - 4pm
Thursday 10am - 4pm
Friday 10am - 4pm
Saturday 10am - 3pm
Sunday 10am - 4pm

Telephone

+13154710593

Website

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