Educator Derrick Pratt’s biography of Oliver Wendell Petrie, a worker on early 20th century canals By Derrick Pratt, Erie Canal Museum Educator Oliver Wendell Petrie was born into a large family on November 18, 1899 in Oswego, New York. His mother was an avid reader and named her son after…
By John Montague, Buffalo Maritime Center Join the Erie Canal Museum on Facebook Live, 10 a.m. May 7, to learn more about this project. In anticipation of the bicentennial of the opening of the Erie Canal in 2025, the Buffalo Maritime Center has undertaken a project to construct a replica…
By Derrick Pratt, Erie Canal Museum Educator A look at the unique geology that helped and hindered construction of New York’s Erie Canal The story of the Erie Canal begins quite some time ago. About 480 million years ago to be exact, when the Appalachian Mountain range began forming….
By Ashley Maready, Curator of Collections and Exhibitions, Erie Canal Museum At the time of the original Erie Canal’s construction, in the early 19th century, the big question to be answered was, “Where will the Canal connect to Lake Erie?” A fierce battle ensued, between the villages of Buffalo and…
By Jeff Ludwig Guest writer Jeff Ludwig wrote the following article about the historic Auburn and Syracuse Railroad, which began operating in 1839. In late morning on June 4th, 1839, New York Governor William Seward left his home in Auburn to board the 10.5 ton locomotive, the “Syracuse,” for the inaugural…
The factors that led to the construction of the Erie Canal in Upstate New York. By Ashley Maready, Curator of Collections and Exhibitions, Erie Canal Museum The idea of a canal to unite the East coast with the interior of the United States was not a new one. Before the…
By Ashley Maready, Curator of Collections and Exhibitions, Erie Canal Museum The idea of childhood and the role of children in the family unit were both in flux in the early 19th century, when New York canals were being built and operation was beginning. To be a kid in Canal…
By Derrick Pratt, Museum Educator On April 20, 1820, the first packet boat traveled to Syracuse on the Erie Canal. In this article, Derrick Pratt shares the story of this momentous event. The Village of Syracuse was incorporated on April 13, 1825, marking the official founding of what would…
By Pamela Vittorio, guest writer Visit https://eriecanalmuseum.org/store/product/family-history-workshop/ for more information and to register. Over the last twenty years, the digitization of genealogical records has become the mainstay of online sites like Family Search and Ancestry. The ability to retrieve and download records from the comfort of one’s home has allowed…
