From New York to Niagara Falls: Ten Days on the Erie Canal”

Program Details

PresenterFrom New York to Niagara Falls: Ten Days on the Erie Canal" by Maureen Whalen
Where RecordedGCSD Transportation Center
Date Recorded20250909
Time Recorded19:00:00
Program Length01:13:36
PublishedSeptember 27, 2025

Program Description

The completion of the Erie Canal in 1825 sparked one of the major tourist trends of the day, traveling the canal from New York City to Niagara Falls to see that natural wonder that still amazes people today. Come learn what it was like to travel on a packet boat in 1840, both the pros and cons, via this fictional narrative that weaves together passages from eye-witness travel journals from the early days of the Erie Canal.

Maureen Whalen, a retired librarian has been a volunteer at the Greece Historical Society since 2012, curating a number of their exhibits. In 2019 she was awarded the Greece Regional Chamber of Commerce History Award. Most recently, she chaired the Society’s Erie Canal Bicentennial Committee. Maureen is also the Seneca Park Zoo historian where she has been a docent for almost 20 years; in April 2020, she published her book, A History of Seneca Park Zoo.