Celebrating a Bicentennial

Two hundred years ago, in October 1825, the Erie Canal was completed. In her book about the early years of Hudson, Hudson's Merchants and Whalers, Margaret Schram describes the celebration that accompanied the opening of the Erie Canal in this way:

The momentous celebration began in October of 1825. "Clinton's Big Ditch" was a financial success despite the prediction by naysayers of total ruin for the state. As the Seneca Chief, a packet, moved out of Lake Erie and into the new canal, a battery of cannon fire began, with communities along the route as far as New York City firing as they heard the fire from the community above. It took eighty-one minutes for the firing to extend to New York City. Hundreds of vessels, strewn with flags, accompanied the Seneca Chief, which carried two kegs of water from Lake Erie to be poured into the Atlanta Ocean on arrival.… At Hudson the engines were stopped and the boats drifted by as more cannons were fired in salute from the shores. It was probably one of the most exciting events of the century, or of any century, for that matter.…

While the city fathers of Hudson were standing on Parade Hill, cheering with all the rest, did any of them get a chill down his spine, suddenly realizing what the opening of the Erie Canal meant to their city? All the products from the farms and forests of the west could now be shipped easily through the canal and on to New York City, and then out to other ports. It would be a supply of raw material beyond anything the territory feeding Hudson could ever amass. The Erie Canal marked the end of Hudson's reign as a major shipping port.

To mark the bicentennial of this momentous event, the Buffalo Maritime Center has constructed a full-sized replica of the Seneca Chief, the canal boat that was the first to traverse the Erie Canal in 1825, and the replica Seneca Chief is now re-creating the original Seneca Chief's inaugural journey from Lake Erie to New York City.

The Seneca Chief left Buffalo on September 24, bound for New York City. The historic journey invites communities along the route to honor the past while envisioning the future. The following is quoted from the Buffalo Maritime Center website:  

The Erie Canal transformed the young United States, reshaping commerce, transportation, and daily life in the 19th century. Its unprecedented speed of travel enabled the rapid movement of goods, people, and ideas, fueling economic growth and innovation.

While the canal was celebrated as a symbol of progress for New York, that progress was not universal. Its success contributed to the displacement of the Haudenosaunee and led to lasting changes in New York State's ecosystems, underscoring the complex and far-reaching impact of this historic waterway.

As the Erie Canal Boat Seneca Chief journeys through New York State, we will plant White Pine trees as a symbolic tribute to the Haudenosaunee--a commitment to a sustainable future--and celebrate the communities along the canal.

At each port, we will invite communities to contribute water from their section of the Erie Canal or the Hudson River to a barrel carried aboard the boat. Upon reaching New York City, we will use the gathered water to nourish the final tree, uniting the waters of New York State in a powerful gesture of connection and renewal.

The Gathering of the Waters embodies our values, honors our shared history, and offers hope for the future.

The Seneca Chief will visit Hudson on Monday, October 20. For more information about the construction of the replica canal boat, its mission, and to track its bicentennial journey, click here.

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