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+

to Baldwinsville's historic canal locks!In these photos you can see the evolution of Baldwinsville's locks. Before gro...
06/11/2026

to Baldwinsville's historic canal locks!

In these photos you can see the evolution of Baldwinsville's locks. Before ground was broken on the Erie Canal, Baldwinsville already had it's own canal that bypassed rapids in the Seneca River. That canal had at least one lock from its earliest days.
In 1905, work began to update the New York State Canal System, creating what we know as the Barge Canal today. This rerouted the Erie Canal north, utilizing Oneida Lake and the Seneca River, and bypassing Syracuse. This new route brought the Erie Barge Canal through Baldwinsville, neccessitating the building of a lock in the village's section of the Seneca River. Lock E24 in Baldwinsville was the first lock on the Barge Canal to open to traffic, which it did on May 9, 1910.

Come discuss the canal infrastructure of Baldwinsville with us on Saturday, June 13 at 10:30AM. We'll host our first Baldwinsville Lock E24 Infrastructure Tour that day, wrapping up just in time for you to enjoy the Seneca River Days. Reserve your spot today: https://www.simpletix.com/e/2026-summer-walking-tours-tickets-273128

For today's you can see the iconic Barge Canal freighter, the ILI 101, later rechristened the Day Peckinpaugh, docked ...
06/10/2026

For today's you can see the iconic Barge Canal freighter, the ILI 101, later rechristened the Day Peckinpaugh, docked at a canal port in Western New York. But which one?

We'll give you a hint, we're hosting a Beers, Bikes, and Barges ride there later this month, where you can learn more about this canal town's history on a guided bike ride and enjoy a complimentary beverage of your choice afterwards. You can find out more information and register for that ride here: https://www.simpletix.com/e/beers-bikes-barges-tickets-262431

Comment the location below to be entered to win a $5 discount on a BBB ticket of your choosing this year!

Our today looks at Daniel B. Deland of Fairport.Born in Tioga County, Daniel DeLand briefly went to sea on a whaling s...
06/09/2026

Our today looks at Daniel B. Deland of Fairport.

Born in Tioga County, Daniel DeLand briefly went to sea on a whaling ship before returning to New York, attracted by the economic opportunities created by the newly opened Erie Canal. He settled in Fairport, where his family had relocated, and found work on canal packet boats, eventually becoming a captain. During one of these canal voyages, he met Minerva Parce, whom he married in 1848 and moved to Wisconsin with.

However, he soon returned to Fairport with a new business idea. In 1852 Deland founded the D.B. DeLand & Co., manufacturing now common household items like cream of tartar, sal soda, and baking soda. The business expanded rapidly, and in 1854 moved to a factory on the north bank of the Erie Canal. The canal was vital to the company’s success, providing an efficient transportation route for shipping DeLand’s household products to markets along the East Coast and throughout the Midwest via the Great Lakes. By combining canal transportation with modern manufacturing methods, DeLand helped build one of Fairport’s most important industries and became a leading figure in the community.

You can learn more about Fairport history later this month when we host a Beers, Bikes, and Barges ride in partnership with the Fairport Perinton Partnership for a Better Community and the Town of Perinton Historian on June 25th. You can learn more and register here: https://www.simpletix.com/e/beers-bikes-barges-tickets-262431

to last year's visit to Onondaga Lake by the Buffalo Maritime Center's Erie Canal Boat Seneca Chief! This full sized r...
06/04/2026

to last year's visit to Onondaga Lake by the Buffalo Maritime Center's Erie Canal Boat Seneca Chief! This full sized recreation of DeWitt Clinton's original 1825 canal boat made its inaugural voyage from Buffalo to New York City in honor of the Erie Canal's bicentennial during the fall.

This spring it will be heading back to Buffalo in time for America's 250th on July 4th and it will be stopping here in Central New York again. On June 15th the boat will head up the Seneca River and enter Onondaga Lake for a two day stay at the Syracuse Inner Harbor. We hope you can stop by to check it out when it is there, whether you were able to last year or not. The welcome ceremony will be at 3pm on June 15, with public hours from 3pm-7pm, then on June 16 from 2pm-5pm, with a special event occuring in the evening (keep your eyes peeled for more information on that by signing up for our e-newsletter here http://eepurl.com/iQ2iBo)

: Post office murals depicting life on and around the Erie Canal. During the Great Depression as many Americans, includ...
06/03/2026

: Post office murals depicting life on and around the Erie Canal. During the Great Depression as many Americans, including artists, stuggled to find work, the government took on a number of enormous job creation programs. One of these projects was employing artists in the Section of Fine Arts to produce artwork that would beautify govvernment buildings, notably post offices. By placing artwork in public buildings, the program made art accessible to a broad audience including to more isolated communities, which still had post offices. Many of these murals focused on the history of the region where they were produce or local industry and you can see excellent examples here, with murals from Amsterdam and Lancaster illustrating historic moments in regional transportation while murals from Canajoharie and Canastota show the invention of the paper bag and the onion industry respectively. You can learn more about these murals as well as additional Erie Canal related art in our Sloan Lecture later this month, when Erie Canal Museum Director of Interpretation Steph Adams presents Reframing the Canal: Art and the Erie Canal on June 18th at noon. You can learn more, as well as register to attend live or receive a recording with this link: https://www.simpletix.com/e/2026-sloan-lecture-series-tickets-243113

Today's is Harriot Stanton Blatch.Born in the canal town of Seneca Falls in 1856, she was the daughter of women's righ...
06/02/2026

Today's is Harriot Stanton Blatch.

Born in the canal town of Seneca Falls in 1856, she was the daughter of women's rights pioneer Elizabeth Cady Stanton. At the turn of the twentieth century Stanton Blatch brought innovative organizing strategies from England back to the United States and worked to expand the movement by recruiting working-class women.

Blatch maintained strong ties to New York's Canal Corridor. In 1908, she planned a canal boat campaign along the Erie Canal route from Seneca Falls to Albany. Although the trip never materialized, she instead conducted a trolley tour through canal communities, including Syracuse, where local women's organizations hosted her.

In 1911, Blatch made several appearances in Syracuse. Speaking from an automobile on Salina Street and later in Clinton Square, she argued that women who had contributed to the nation's economy and war efforts deserved the right to vote. Her visits reflected a broader strategy of reaching working women and farm wives, while also highlighting the continued importance of canal towns in the suffrage movement. Through campaigns like these, Blatch helped build the momentum that led to women winning the vote in New York in 1917 and nationally in 1920. You can learn more about Blatch and other's from the Canal Corridor who helped develop the women's rights movement on our Women on the Water walking tour, with its first iteration this Sturday at 10:30am. You can register for that walk or any of our other walking tours happening Fridays and Saturdays all summer here: https://www.simpletix.com/e/2026-summer-walking-tours-tickets-273128

to the historical Major League Baseball teams that once called the Canal Corridor home. That’s right! During the 1870s...
05/28/2026

to the historical Major League Baseball teams that once called the Canal Corridor home. That’s right! During the 1870s and 1880s the modern National League contained at one point or another pro clubs from Buffalo, Syracuse, and Troy. All of theses teams would eventually fold as major league clubs but their legacy still lives on in the rich history of the International League, where the Syracuse Mets still play today. You have a chance to take part in the grand tradition of Canal Corridor baseball next week while also helping to support telling canal stories by purchasing a ticket with this special We Care Wednesday link to watch the SMets play next Wednesday: https://www.gofevo.com/event/EriecanalWCW

Our this week highlights Rev. Thomas James, whose life was deeply tied to the Erie Canal. Born enslaved in Canajoharie...
05/26/2026

Our this week highlights Rev. Thomas James, whose life was deeply tied to the Erie Canal. Born enslaved in Canajoharie around 1804, James grew up in the Mohawk Valley. At 17, he took his freedom by following the staked-out route of the Erie Canal west to Lockport before crossing into Canada. There he briefly worked constructing the Welland Canal before returning to New York and settling in Rochester.

In Rochester, James worked at a canalside warehouse, eventually managing its freight operations. He also became active in Rochester’s Black community, studying at a Sunday school run and joining the AME Zion Church. By the late 1820s he was teaching at a school for Black children and preaching regularly. His business success allowed him to purchase the lot for and help fund Rochester’s AME Zion Church, where he became the congregation’s first regular pastor after his ordination.

James soon left canal business behind to devote himself fully to abolition. He helped found the Rochester Anti-Slavery Society and the abolitionist newspaper The Rights of Man, while traveling throughout Western New York preaching against slavery despite threats of violence. In 1835 he founded Syracuse’s AME Zion Church and participated in the New York State Anti-Slavery Convention in Utica, which was broken up by a proslavery mob and forced to reconvene in Peterboro. He later oversaw construction of Ithaca’s AME Zion Church. Together, these churches became important links in the Underground Railroad and were connected to abolitionist leaders including Harriet Tubman and Jermain Wesley Loguen. James meanwhile continued his illustrious career in Massachusetts, though he would return to the Canal Corridor late in life, passing away in Rochester in 1891, where he is buried at Mt. Hope Cemetery.

We have several opportunities this summer to learn more about Rev. James' life including our Pathways of Resistance walking tour, a Beers, Bikes, and Barges tour to his hometown of Canajoharie and nearby Ft. Flain, and a bus tour to his resting place in Mt. Hope Cemetery. Learn more about all these events here: https://eriecanalmuseum.simpletix.com/

: a 1895 ASPCA report on the condition of New York’s animals, especially the horses and mules on the Erie Canal. Exami...
05/20/2026

: a 1895 ASPCA report on the condition of New York’s animals, especially the horses and mules on the Erie Canal. Examinations like the one shown in this picture found that the condition of these animals had improved dramatically thanks to ASPCA efforts, though there were still many sadly mistreated animals on the canal, indicated by far more graphic images contained in the report. You can learn more about the ASPCA's founding and the role of the Canal in that next Thursday at 6pm. You can attend a talk with Dr. Ernest Freeberg on that topic either in-person or online, we'll record it as well, and you can register here: https://www.simpletix.com/e/2026-sloan-lecture-series-tickets-243113

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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