BotH417web

April 2017

boatingonthehudson.com

Perhaps that is the best legacy of New York State’s canals – in the

fast paced, high tech world of the 21st Century, the venerable

waterway continued mostly as it has since its “modern” re-

imagination circa 1915. As Director Stratton puts it, “Much credit

for the canal’s historical integrity can be attributed to generations

of state canal workers who have operated and maintained the

system for the past 100 years. The ongoing stewardship of lock

and bridge operators, bank walkers, and tug and dredge crews,

This rather unusual looking cruise ship was designed to handle

the famous low bridges of the NewYork State Canal System.

One of the many commercial tugs owned by the NYS Marine Highway

tugboat company, the

Margot

pushes a heavy barge northward on the

Champlain Canal. Based in Troy, the NYS Marine Highway carries about

90 percent of the cargo that is shipped on the Canal System today.

engineers and administrators has preserved this nationally

significant resource in remarkable condition.”

The above information has been adapted from a release by the

Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor

org). For more information on the Canal System visit www.

canals.ny.gov or the Chamber of Southern Saratoga County

website at