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Visitors to Erie Canal Museum Have New, Interactive Ways to Learn Local History

Chris Bolt

Visitors to the Erie Canal Museum starting this week can enjoy an elaborate new exhibit that turns the main-floor visitors’ center into a fun and interactive journey through history.

 

The museum celebrated the completion of the museum’s new permanent first-floor exhibit, “The Erie Canal Made New York” after more than ten years of preparation, design and construction.

 

“We try to keep the space as fresh as we can,” said Executive Director Natalie Stetson. “But this exhibit is something new to see and we hope that it paves the way for a very bright future for the museum.”

 

The new exhibit uses hands-on exhibits, narrative audio tracks, interactive displays and original artifacts to chronicle the history of the inland waterway that helped shape the United States and made New York City the economic center of the world.

Credit Chris Bolt
The new exhibit includes hands-on exhibits, narrative audio tracks and interactive displays to show the inland waterway’s history.

“As downtown continues to grow and flourish, we want to be a part of that, as opposed to just kind of benefiting from it,” Stetson said.

 

Stetson said the exhibit will take visitors on a journey from the canal’s planning phase through its construction and up to the present barge canal system.

 

She said engineering breakthroughs were born here because the original construction of the canal was dug almost entirely by hand.

 

“The whole story is told here,” Stetson said.

 

The display ends with a large, light-up map that depicts the original canal and many existing canal stops, and the Canalway Heritage Corridor.

 

Stetson reminded us the Erie Canal is not just a thing of the past.

 

She said she wants the changes to the museum and the history on display to change the museum’s future.

 

We have new different events (and) are doing on Wednesdays on the Weighlock series geared towards really a more millennial population,” Stetson said.

Stetson said they are hoping to reach new audience this way.

The new exhibit cost over $700,000 to complete.

Credit Chris Bolt
The Erie Canal Museum's Executive Director Natalie Stetson said the new exhibit will take visitors on a journey from the canal’s planning phase to the current barge canal system.

Chris Bolt, Ed.D. has proudly been covering the Central New York community and mentoring students for more than 30 years. His career in public media started as a student volunteer, then as a reporter/producer. He has been the news director for WAER since 1995. Dedicated to keeping local news coverage alive, Chris also has a passion for education, having trained, mentored and provided a platform for growth to more than a thousand students. Career highlights include having work appear on NPR, CBS, ABC and other news networks, winning numerous local and state journalism awards.