Some photographs from one of my favorite museums

http://neilfeather.com/radio.php The Erie Canal Museum in Syracuse, New York, is arguably the centerpiece of a state-wide program centered around the historic Erie Canal. The museum is housed in the Weighlock Building built in 1850 to weigh canal boats to determine their tolls. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is the sole survivor of seven on the canal system. As its name indicates, it consisted of a lock, which when drained would lower the boat onto a set of scales. The boat’s annual empty registered weight was subtracted from the Weighlock weight to determine the weight of its freight.

The Greek Revival style building was used for 74 years as a state office building after tolls were abolished in 1883. In 1957 it was slated for demolition, but saved by citizens interested in the building and the canal’s history.

In its present form, the majority of the formerly open but covered lock is now enclosed in glass panels and houses a full-size canal boat, which visitors can board. These images do not give the full breadth of the museum’s displays. Each aspect of the canal from its inception and first plans, to the surveys, to excavation, to impact on the nation are all (and more) graphically represented.