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Canal Attractions
Champlain Canal
 Erie Canal
Cayuga-Seneca Canal
A wealth of sites and attractions await your visit
along the New York State Canal System. Visitors centers,
museums, parks and historic sites along the Canal System
provide unique glimpses into the people, places and
events that characterized life on the Canals in the
1800's, and the role that the Canal played in shaping
the future of New York State...and America!
Most of the museums found along the Canal System are
committed to preserving and interpreting the evolution
of this historic waterway and its way of life. Central
New York maintains the largest grouping of Canal museums
in the State; however, interpretive centers and
historical sites can be found all along the Canal
System.
Capital-Saratoga Region
- Hudson-Mohawk
Heritage Area
- Waterford RiverSpark/Urban Cultural Park
Visitor Center
Labor and industry are the themes of the
exhibits in this center, which tells the story of
the evolution of the communities at the confluence
of the Hudson and Mohawk rivers, and the roles
played by the opening of the Erie Canal and the
impact of the Industrial Revolution of the late 19th
century in shaping the growth of the region.
 Located
a only few miles from Erie Canal Lock 2.
Cohoes Music Hall
58 Remsen Street
Cohoes, New York 12047
(518) 237-7999
Open: Year-round, Tuesday-Friday, noon-5 p.m. For
more information, visit their WWW page at http://www.troyvisitorcenter.org
No admission charge.
Troy RiverSpark Visitor Center
Troy's RiverSpark Visitor Center is the place to
launch any visit to downtown Troy, to the greater
Troy area, or to the entire Hudson-Mohawk Heritage
Area. It will tell you how abundant water for
transportation and industrial power helped propel
the region to international fame during the
nineteenth century, and it will show you where you
can visit the plentiful landmarks from that
industrial heyday.
251 River Street
Troy, NY 12180-3280
(518) 270-8667
Open: Year-round, Tuesday through Saturday 11
a.m. - 6 p.m., Thursday 11 a.m. - 8 p.m., First
Sunday of each month 12 noon - 5 p.m. For more
information, visit their WWW site at http://www.rpi.edu/~carroll/tvc/.
- Whitehall
Urban Cultural Park Visitor Center/Skenesborough
Museum
- The birthplace of the American Navy during the
Revolutionary War is the focus of exhibits in this
center. Ship models from 1776 and the War of 1812,
modern naval ships and lake boats are displayed. The
Champlain Canal is featured among the center's
exhibits, along with antique farm and home
implements, buel spoon, doll and railroad artifacts.
The center is located along the Champlain Canal.
Skenesborough Drive off Routes 4 & 22
Whitehall, NY 12887
(518) 499-0716
Open: Mid-June to Labor Day, Monday-Saturday, 10
a.m.-4 p.m.;
Labor Day to mid-October, Saturday, 10 a.m. -3 p.m.;
Sunday, noon-3 p.m.
No admission charge.
Central-Leatherstocking Region
- Rome
Erie Canal Village
- This 1840-1860 era re-created Canal village is an
outdoor living history museum located alongside a
portion of the original Erie Canal. The village
includes a church, train station, old tavern,
schoolhouse, livery stable, Crosby House, settlers
house, hotel, canal store, farm cabin, ice house and
farm and canal museums. An 1840's horse-drawn packet
boat provides rides on the historic canal section.
5789 New London Road
Rome, NY 13440
(315) 337-3999
888-374-3226
Open: Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day and
weekends in September, Wednesday - Sunday, 10 a.m. -
5 p.m.,
group tours by appointment. For more information,
visit their WWW site at http://www.eriecanalvillage.net/.
Admission is $10 for adults, $9 for seniors and
$8 for children. This includes a mule drawn
boat ride, train ride, orientation movie, blacksmith
demonstration and self-guided tour through the
village.
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- Rome-Syracuse
Old Erie Canal State Park
- This scenic linear park stretches 36 miles along
the enlarged Erie Canal, which operated between Rome
and Syracuse from 1836 to 1862. The navigable
historic canal section offers opportunities for
canoeing and paddle-craft. The parallel towpath
trail is part of the New York State Canalway Trail
System and provides a continuous route for hiking,
biking, horseback riding, snowmobiling, fishing and
canal-side picnicking. The park is accessible at
various points along NY Routes 5 and 46, several
miles from the working Erie Canal.
New York State Office of Parks, Recreation &
Historic Preservation
Regional Office: (315) 492-1756
Park Office: (315) 687-7821
Open: Daily, year-round, dawn to dusk.
No admission charge.
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- Canastota
Canal Town Museum
- Located on the historic Erie Canal, this museum is
housed in an 1860's-era canal building with
authentic Erie Canal memorabilia and exhibits on
local businesses.
122 N. Canal Street
Canastota, NY 13032
(315) 697-3451
Open: April-October, Tuesday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-4
p.m.;
November-March, Tuesday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-3 p.m.
No admission charge.
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- Chittenango
Landing Canal Boat Museum
- The structural frame of an authentic Erie Canal
packet boat rests entombed in an archeological
excavation of an original drydock along the historic
Erie Canal adjacent to the Erie Canal State Park.
Other museum buildings display exhibits and replicas
of working 19th century machinery typical of canal
life in the 1800s.
7010 Lakeport Road
Chittenango, NY 13037
(315) 687-3801
Open: April-June, Saturday and Sunday, 1 p.m.-4
p.m.;
July-September, Daily, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.;
October-March, 1st Saturday of month, 1 p.m.-4 p.m.;
Other times by appointment
Admission.
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- Utica
The Children's Museum of History, Natural
History, Science & Technology is an educationally
enjoyable for kids from 1 to 101. Chartered by the
NYS Board of Regents in history and science, member
of Museum Association of New York & National
Association of Museums in Washington, D.C., the only
children's museum adopted by NASA and the Office of
Science and declared a NYS and Federal Historic
Building. Families, schools, daycares, scouts,
seniors, tourists interact with hundreds of hands-on
exhibits on four floors exploring fun.
311 Main Street
Utica, NY
Open Year-Round, Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays,
Fridays, Saturdays, 9:45am - 3:45pm
Admission $9.00 per person, members and children
under 1 are free.
Finger Lakes Region
- DeWitt Canal
Center
- This interpretive center is located on the towpath
within the Erie Canal State Park and offers exhibits
to introduce and explain the structures seen
throughout the park, including aqueducts, bridges
and wide waters of the canal. The center houses a
full-size canal boat collection, including a
historic houseboat and buoy tender. The center is
operated by the Erie Canal Museum and is open by
appointment only. (See Erie Canal Museum below for
contact information.)
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- Syracuse
Erie Canal Museum/Syracuse Urban Cultural Park
Visitors
Center
- The nation's leading maritime museum specializing
in Erie Canal history, this fascinating facility is
located in a landmark 1850s "weighlock"
building, the only surviving canal boat weighing
station. Here a replica of a canal packet boat can
be boarded for a real experience of canal life.
Displays, changing exhibits and orientation theater
tell the fascinating story of life on the canal in
central New York.
 A
gift shop and research library also are located at
the center.
318 Erie Boulevard East
Syracuse, NY 13202
(315) 471-0593
Open: Daily, year-round, 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Group
tours by appointment. For more information, visit
one of their WWW sites:
No admission charge.
- Camillus
Erie Canal Park
- A 300-acre park consisting of seven navigable
miles of the historic Erie Canal offers nine miles
of trails and two picnic areas. Within the park are
Nine-Mile Creek aqueduct and Sims' Store Museum, a
replica of an 1860s canal-side store featuring
exhibits of canal memorabilia, displays and
photographs. Adjacent is an outdoor operating lock
exhibit. The museum also is the departure point for
boat rides on the old canal offered on Sunday
afternoons, and a weekly dinner cruise offered from
mid-June to late August.
5750 Devoe Road
Camillus, NY 13031
(315) 672-5110 or (315) 488-3409
Open: Daily, year-round
Sims Store Museum Open: Year-round, Saturdays, 9
a.m.-1 p.m.;
May-October, Sundays, 1 p.m.-5 p.m.
Group tours by appointment.
No admission to park, trails or picnic area.
Admission for Sims Store Museum and boat rides.
- Seneca
Falls Urban Cultural Park Visitors Center
- See a fascinating display depicting the evolution
of the region and how a portion of Seneca Falls was
deliberately flooded to build the Cayuga-Seneca
Canal! Exhibits also illustrate the area's roots as
the birthplace of Elizabeth Cady Stanton, pioneer of
feminism, women's suffrage and temperance movements.
115 Fall Street
Seneca Falls, NY 13148
(315) 568-6894
Open: Daily, year-round, Monday-Saturday, 10
a.m.-4 p.m., Sunday, noon-4 p.m. Group tours by
appointment.
No admission charge.
- Rochester
Center at High Falls/Rochester Urban Cultural Park
Visitors
Center
- Dynamic, hands-on exhibits trace the history of
the Genesee Gorge and the evolution of the region
and the city of Rochester from pre-historic times to
the present. Displays illustrate the impact of the
Erie Canal and harnessing the power of the
magnificent waterfall at High Falls, driving the
region's growth. The center is located a few minutes
north by car from the navigable sections of the
Genesee River and Erie Canal.
60 Brown's Race
Rochester, NY 14614
(716) 325-2030, 24-hour information line: (716)
292-8280
Open: Daily, year-round. Call for hours.
No admission charge.
Greater Niagara Region
- Lockport Cave and Underground Boat Ride
-
Guided walking and boat tour on the Erie Canal
through 2,430-ft.
tunnel blasted in 1858-59. Groups
welcome by appointment.
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21 Main St.
Lockport, NY 14094
(716) 438-0174
Open: Daily, 9:30am – 6:30pm
Admission charged.
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- Lockport
Canal Museum
-
Nestled at the base of a historic flight of locks
proclaimed by General
Marquise de Lafayette to be
one of the greatest engineering feats of the
world
in the 1800s, this charming small museum traces the
history of the
original Erie Canal through displays
of historic canal memorabilia in a
converted,
historic power house building between the historic
locks of the
original Erie Canal and double locks 34
and 35 of the working canal.
Richmond Avenue (at Locks 34-35)
Lockport, NY 14094
(716) 434-3140
No admission charge.
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