Schoharie Crossing Mid-Hudson Tour of Erie Canal Programs

FORT HUNTER – Schoharie Crossing State Historic Site will be hitting the road in September to provide a series of Erie Canal related outreach programs to libraries in the Mid-Hudson Library System to celebrate the canal’s Bicentennial.

This tour of libraries is intended to provide engaging, entertaining, and educational programs to highlight the history of the canal in New York State.  Squeezed in between the exciting tour of the river circus Flotsam, the Tugboat Round Up in Waterford, and the upcoming statewide journey of the replica Seneca Chief barge constructed by the Buffalo Maritime Center, the Schoharie Crossing “Mid-Hudson” Tour is a wonderful way to discover more about the impressive impact the canal had on the State and the Nation. 

This series starts on Sunday, September 7th at 12:30PM with “Creating the Empire State” for the Kinderhook Library.  This program explores the construction of the canal and its impacts. On the 8th, the Reed Memorial Library will have “Erie Canal at 200” starting at 1PM. The Lagrange Association Library will have the same program at 4PM followed by the Mahopac Library at 6:30PM. “Erie Canal at 200” explores how the canal has been recognized and celebrated over the last two centuries.

On September 9th the Claverack Library will host a children’s program called “A Sound Lesson on the Erie Canal” at 1PM. This hands-on program shares the history of the canal’s opening in October of 1825 by way of creating sound cannons. 

The series continues with “Dewitt’s Duel: Rivalry at Ten Paces” for the Clinton Community Library on the 9th at 4PM that shares the interesting history of political rivalry that surrounded Governor DeWitt Clinton in the early 1800’s. Then at 6:30PM “Erie Canal at 200” will be shared at the Poughkeepsie Library and again the following morning on the 10th at 10AM at the Stanford Free Library. 

At 1PM that day, the Heermance Library will host  “Strange History Along the Canal in Fort Hunter” that explores some common tales of death, murder, arson, and disaster along the transportation ways of the Mohawk Valley. The library will then offer “DeWitt’s Duel” at 4PM.

The tour concludes with a 6:30PM presentation for the Livingston Library at the Recreation Center. A final offering of “Erie Canal at 200” will highlight the celebrations of the centennial and how the canal has been part of American pop-culture. 

For more information, please these libraries or David at Schoharie Crossing: (518) 829-7516, email SchoharieCrossing@parks.ny.gov.