This year the Erie Canal is 201 years old. The Buffalo Maritime Center built a replica boat that traveled across the state last year to celebrate the 200th anniversary of the canal. Now, the Seneca Chief, is coming back to Buffalo. Last week the boat made a stop in Syracuse.
“It’s one thing to learn about it in a book. It’s another thing to get out and see it and touch it and feel it,” said Ben Walsh, director of the New York State Canal Corp.
Tying knots and testing crew beds are some of the hands-on experiences fourth graders got as the Seneca Chief visited Syracuse. They learned what life was like working on the Erie Canal in the early 1800s…