Displaying results 1 to 26 - 26
Date Created: September 1870
Description:
New York State constructed over 300 bridges to span the Erie Canal. Most were used for linking farms that were crossed by the Canal.
Like today's bridges, weight limits needed to be adhered to in an attempt to limit structural...
Date Created: C. 1880
Description:
Black River Canal, north of Rome, NY.
The towpath was essentially a long unobstructed path between two points. It proved irresistible to horse and buggy drivers because it was often the quickest way between two towns. However, the...
Date Created: 1886
Description:
This garment was worn on January 12, 1886 as a wedding dress. Unlike the modern tradition of a white, one-occasion gown, a bride in the 1800s intended her wedding dress to be worn for other formal occasions after the wedding.
Date Created: c. 1927
Description:
Syracuse inventor Charles Brannock was born into the shoe business. His father, Otis Brannock, cofounded the Park-Brannock Shoe Co. As a Syracuse University student, young Brannock wanted to find the best way to measure the foot. He played around with...
Date Created: 1985
Description:
The "Frank Buchanan Thomson" is a full-size waterline reconstruction of a Erie Canal line boat with crew quarters, cargo and passenger areas, housed at the Erie Canal Museum in Syracuse, N.Y.
This type of canal boat was owned by a shipping line and called a...
Description:
Displays at the Erie Canal Museum include a reproduction of a mid-1800's Canalside tavern where travelers would stop for food, drink and gossip.
At one time, 32 different beers were brewed in Syracuse, making the city the brewery...
Description: Wide caulking chisels were used to pound caulking material between the planks of canal boats.
Description:
The Manhattan Company Bank, an office of which is depicted in a display in the Erie Canal Museum, played a major role in financing the construction of the Erie Canal.
In the years following the Revolutionary War America had few banks...
Description:
One of the most famous residents of the Onondaga Territory was Chief John Big Tree (1862-1967). His profile was familiar to millions as the face on the Indian Head Nickel.
As a Hollywood actor, as the profile on the Pontiac car emblem...
Description:
The Weighmaster was in charge of calculating the weight and toll for canal boats. The manager at the Weightlock Building in Syracuse was one of seven weighmasters on the New York canals.
Canal...
Description:
This scale model depicts the schooner Lois McClure, a replica of a canal boat that was fitted with sails and masts.
Unlike the standard canal boats which had no independent propulsion, the Lake...
Date Created: 1990
Description:
In the Erie Canal days, a weighlock was a lock designed to weigh cargo-carrying boats for the purpose of charging tolls. The heavier the cargo, the greater the toll. There were seven such weighlocks along the Erie Canal at Rochester, Syracuse, Oswego,...
Date Created: 1875
Description: Young boys began their canal careers as mule drivers. Unlike this romanticized image, drivers were never allowed to ride the animals. Rather, they were required to walk.
Date Created: C. 1970
Description:
Packet boats like the "Good News" were used to carry passengers. They are distinctive in that they have a series of windows that extend the length of the boat. Passengers paid by the mile, and had the option of a trip with a meal or to fend...
Description:
The Mystique Krewe of Ka-noo-no was organized by the Syracuse Chamber of Commerce, to give a Karnival each fall during State Fair week. The State Fair, previous to 1904, had not been successful and it was felt by the businessmen that unless something...
Description:
The "Chase" in The Chase Manhattan Bank is in honor of Salmon P. Chase. As Abraham Lincoln's Secretary of the Treasury, Chase saved the fragile U.S. banking system from collapse.
The United States continues to pay...
Date Created: 1912
Description: 
An organization of business leaders naming themselves the "Mystique Krewe of Ka-Noo-No" created the Ka-Noo-No Karnival in 1905, which took place downtown during State Fair week around the Labor Day holiday.
Date Created: c. 1840
Description:
This sextant, dating from around the time of the construction of the Erie Canal, was typical of ones used to survey the Canal.
Sextants were used to determine position by measuring the heights of the sun and stars. The name refers to...
Description:
Among items associated with workers on the Erie Canal are a surveyor's sextant, caulking mallet and bottle.
Caulking mallets were used to pound caulking materials into the spaces between planks in the hull of a canal boat.
Description: Syracuse of the nineteenth century had many theaters in the downtown area. This display in the Erie Canal Museum recreates the staging of the times.
Date Created: c. 1899
Description: American artist Edwin Lamson Henry created this lithograph of a terminal where the railroad met the Lehigh Canal, in Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley.
Date Created: c. 1830
Description:
Passengers traveling on the Erie Canal typically used packet boats. These fast boats carried only passengers, no cargo. Contrary to popular belief, they did not travel across the state. Rather, the boats had set routes and schedules, much like today...
Date Created: c. 1920
Description: This spot light was used on a canal boat around 1920.
Date Created: 1994
Description:
The Syracuse Weighlock Building, which now houses the Erie Canal Building, was constructed in 1850 the Greek Revival style.
Barges that plied the enlarged Erie Canal entered the building to be...
Date Created: c. 1840
Description: This wooden shovel with iron reinforcement dating from around 1840 was typical of shovels used to dig the Erie Canal.
Displaying results 1 to 26 - 26