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Schenectady County will celebrate the 200th anniversary of the Erie Canal with a special stop by the Seneca Chief, a full-scale replica of the first canal boat to travel the historic route.
The boat is scheduled to arrive at Mohawk Harbor at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, October 14, followed by a welcome ceremony at 3:30 p.m. The event is free and open to the public, with guided tours of the boat available from 4 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
“The Erie Canal is woven into the very fabric of Schenectady County’s history, and hosting the Seneca Chief reminds us how the canal helped build our community and shaped our legacy,” said Gary Hughes, Chair of the Schenectady County Legislature.
The Seneca Chief, built by the Buffalo Maritime Center, left Buffalo on September 24 and is retracing the canal’s historic route with 28 community stops, including Schenectady, before arriving in New York Harbor on October 25, the official bicentennial date.
“The voyage of the Seneca Chief celebrates two centuries of innovation, connection, and community,” said Brian U. Stratton, Director of the New York State Canal Corporation. “The Erie Canal transformed New York into a hub of commerce and culture, and its story continues to inspire us today.”
Opened on October 26, 1825, the Erie Canal stretches 363 miles from Albany to Buffalo, connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes. Nicknamed “Clinton’s Ditch,” the canal reduced travel time across upstate New York from two weeks to just five days and cut shipping costs by nearly 90 percent, helping make New York City the nation’s leading port.
In Schenectady, the canal was a lifeline for commerce and industry, passing by the early Schenectady Locomotive Works and Thomas Edison’s General Electric plant, before continuing west toward the Great Flats and Rotterdam Junction.
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