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The Waterford Historical Museum and Cultural Center
The CanalWays Educational Program
June 1 - 4, and 7, 2010

CanalWays is an educational program focusing on the history of the canal systems in New York State. This program appeals to the curriculum requirements for New York State fourth-graders and provides a stimulating multiple-location field trip experience for participating students. Students learn about the Champlain, Erie, and Barge Canals while participating in activities and visiting different sites in Waterford, New York. The CanalWays Educational Program was initiated by the Waterford Historical Museum and Cultural Center in 2003. 

CanalWays is organized by the Waterford Historical Museum and Cultural Center in Waterford, NY and includes partnerships with the New York State Canal Corporation, the Waterford Harbor Visitor Center, and Waterford Museum volunteers Paul Schneider and Russ VanDervoort. Through these partnerships, participating students visit the Waterford Historical Museum and Cultural Center, walk along the towpath on the Old Champlain Canal, listen to the history of a local family’s life on the canals, ride on the Grand Erie boat through Lock 2 on the New York State Barge Canal, do an activity at the Waterford Visitor Center, and participate in the Tugboat Urger’s education program. The New York State Canal Corporation provides the Grand Erie and the Tugboat Urger for the CanalWays program. The schedule for CanalWays coincides with when the Tugboat Urger is in Waterford.



Waterford Historical Museum

The Waterford Historical Museum is located at 2 Museum Lane in Waterford, NY. The Museum features a permanent exhibition about the history of Waterford, temporary exhibitions related to local history, a Victorian period room, and the George & Annabel O’Connor Library for local history.

Brad Utter, Director of the Waterford Museum, manages the Museum site visit. At this site, children engage in a hands-on activity that highlights how canal transportation compares with other historic modes of transporting both persons and goods. Students will also learn how water moves through a lock when they view the Museum’s working model canal lock. Note: The Museum is the alternative location for The Canal Store in inclement weather. 



Old Champlain Canal Towpath

The CanalWays Program utilizes the Old Champlain Canal Towpath as a teaching instrument for students attending the program and is one of the reasons that Waterford is an excellent location to study and reflect on canal history. Towpaths were where draft animals, usually mules, walked as they pulled boats along the canal. Today, the Old Champlain Canal Towpath is maintained as a recreational path for walkers and bicyclists. 

CanalWays offers two distinct activities for students as they experience one section of the Old Towpath. For one of the activities, students stand on the towpath and are able to look at the junction of the Old Champlain and Erie Barge Canals while Russ VanDervoort tells them about the history of his family members who lived and worked on the Old Champlain Canal. Students get a taste of life on canal boats and learn about the earliest tug boats on the Old Champlain Canal. For the other activity, students walk with Pathmaster Paul Schneider as he patrols the Old Champlain Canal for “trouble.” During this walk, students learn how the early canals were constructed and what rules were in place for canalers to follow to ensure the canals functioned properly as busy transportation routes.



Waterford Harbor Visitor Center

The Waterford Harbor Visitor Center is a resource for local community members and visitors traveling on or visiting the canal systems. Located within walking distance of key features in canal history such as the Hudson River, the Old Side-Cut Lock (which brought early boats from the Hudson River to the Old Champlain Canal), and Lock #2 on the Erie Barge Canal (opened in 1915), the Waterford Visitor Center is an ideal location to talk about how New York State canals have changed over the years. 

Dick Hurst, site manager for the Waterford Visitor Center, along with Visitor Center and Museum volunteers, guide children through journeys on the Erie Canal. The activity utilizes the expansive map of the Erie Barge Canal that is imprinted in brick on the Visitor Center’s walkway. Classes are divided into groups and each group experiences a different period of canal life. At the end of the activity, the groups come together and compare their experiences. 




The Grand Erie Boat Ride through Lock 2

CanalWays offers the unique opportunity for students to learn through experience- and what better way is there to learn about how a lock works than going through one? The New York State Canal Corporation and the captain and crew of the Grand Erie boat are key to making this boat ride possible for the students. It is a strong asset of the CanalWays program, since many students (and chaperones) have never been through a lock on a canal. The boat ride makes a strong impression on all participants, who praise it for its excitement and credit it with exposing students to a new (yet historical) experience. 

The Tugboat Urger's Educational Program

The tugboat “Urger” is the flagship of the fleet of vessels operated by the New York State Canal Corporation on the 524-mile Canal System. Built in 1901 in Ferrysburg, Michigan, the “Urger” is one of the oldest working vessels in the country that is still afloat. The “Urger” spent more than 60 years stationed in Waterford, hauling machinery, dredges, and scows on the Erie and Champlain Canals until she was retired from service in the 1980s. In 1991, the “Urger” became the focal point of a program to educate school children and adults about the importance of New York’s historic Canal System.

The CanalWays program corresponds to when the tugboat “Urger” visits Waterford. Our students participate in the “Urger’s” educational programming, which includes a tour of the historic tugboat, history of the construction of the canals, and a new component called “Connect the Drops” which teaches students about the effects of pollution on the canal system and other waterways. This popular canal educational program enhances the rest of the CanalWays experience and is provided by the New York State Canal Corporation

Video - Down the old Potomac / Thomas A. Edison, Inc.

To watch this video from the Library of Congress, please click on the photo below:

Sponsored by the Waterford Historical Museum and Cultural Center

Our sincere thanks and gratitude go to our corporate sponsor - Janney Montgomery Scott LLC.  We could not have done it without you.

In collaboration with:

For more information, please Contact the Waterford Museum