Editing Erie Canal (section)

==The canal today==
[[File:Canal tour boat.jpg|thumb|right|A commercial tour boat locks through [[Baldwinsville, New York|Baldwinsville's]] Lock 24.]]
[[File:Erie Canal (2).jpg|thumb|right|MV ''Grande Caribe'' traversing the canal on an overnight cruise in 2014]]
Today, the Erie Canal is used primarily by recreational vessels, though it remains served by several commercial barge-towing companies.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.canals.ny.gov/business/shipping.html |title=Commercial Shipping and Towing - New York State Canals |website=www.canals.ny.gov |access-date=2019-01-24}}</ref>

The canal is open to small craft and some larger vessels from May through November each year. During winter, water is drained from parts of the canal for maintenance. The Champlain Canal, Lake Champlain, and the [[Chambly Canal]], and [[Richelieu River]] in Canada form the [[Lakes to Locks Passage]], making a tourist attraction of the former waterway linking eastern Canada to the Erie Canal.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Lakes to Locks Passage |url=https://nsbfoundation.com/nb/lakes-to-locks-passage/ |access-date=2025-05-09 |website=National Scenic Byway Foundation |language=en-US}}</ref> In 2006 recreational boating fees were suspended to attract more visitors.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2006-03-23 |title=No Tolls for Boaters on the Erie Canal. |url=https://www.wbfo.org/2006-03-23/no-tolls-for-boaters-on-the-erie-canal |access-date=2024-11-23 |website=WBFO |agency=Associated Press}}</ref>

The Erie Canal is a destination for tourists from all over the world, and has inspired guidebooks dedicated to exploration of the waterway.<ref name="Williams">{{cite book|last1=Williams|first1=Deborah|title=Erie Canal : exploring New York's great canals : a complete guide|date=2009|publisher=Countryman Press|location=Woodstock, Vt.|isbn=978-1-58157-080-9|edition=1st|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HxaW7ZAXOP4C}}</ref><ref name="PTNY">{{cite book|title=Cycling the Erie Canal: A Guide to 400 Miles of Adventure and History Along the Erie Canalway Trail|date=2015|publisher=Parks & Trails New York|isbn=9780974827735|edition=Revised}}</ref> An Erie Canal Cruise company, based in [[Herkimer, New York|Herkimer]], operates from mid-May until mid-October with daily cruises. The cruise goes through the history of the canal and also takes passengers through Lock 18.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://eriecanalcruises.com/schedule-rates/|title=Schedule & Rates|website=Erie Canal Cruises|language=en-US|access-date=2019-09-03}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Erie Canal Boat Rides & Tours|url=https://eriecanalcruises.com/cruises/|access-date=2022-02-21|website=Erie Canal Cruises|language=en-US}}</ref>

Aside from transportation, numerous businesses, farms, factories and communities alongside its banks still utilize the canal's waters for other purposes such as irrigation for farmland, hydroelectricity, research, industry, and even drinking. Use of the canal system has an estimated total economic impact of $6.2 billion annually.<ref name = "Benefit Report"/>

===Old Erie Canal===
[[File:Canalside, Buffalo, New York, June 2015 - 04.jpg|thumb|[[Canalside]], a re-created segment of the Old Erie Canal in [[Buffalo, New York|Buffalo]]]]
[[File:Erie Canal - Second Genesee Aqueduct (aka Broad Street Bridge) 03.jpg|thumb|right|The [[Broad Street Bridge (Rochester, New York)|Second Genesee Aqueduct]] in [[Rochester, New York|Rochester]] carried the [[Rochester Subway]] and now carries Broad Street.]]
Today, the reconfiguration of the canal created during the First Enlargement is commonly referred to as the "Improved Erie Canal" or the "Old Erie Canal", to distinguish it from the canal's modern-day course. Existing remains of the 1825 canal abandoned during the Enlargement are officially referred to today as "Clinton's Ditch" (which was also the popular nickname for the entire Erie Canal project during its original 1817–1825 construction).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/vinylboy20/14342144437/|title=Clintons Ditch (1)|date=June 14, 2014|via=Flickr}}</ref>

Sections of the Old Erie Canal not used after 1918 are owned by New York State, or have been ceded to or purchased by counties or municipalities. Many stretches of the old canal have been filled in to create roads such as Erie Boulevard in Syracuse and Schenectady, and Broad Street and the [[Rochester Subway]] in Rochester. A 36‑mile (58&nbsp;km) stretch of the old canal from the town of [[DeWitt, New York]], east of Syracuse, to just outside [[Rome, New York]], is preserved as the [[Old Erie Canal State Historic Park]]. In 1960 the [[Schoharie Crossing State Historic Site]], a section of the canal in [[Montgomery County, New York|Montgomery County]], was one of the first sites recognized as a [[National Historic Landmark]].<ref name="NHL">[[National Park Service]], [http://www.cr.nps.gov/nhl/designations/Lists/NY01.pdf National Historic Landmarks Survey, New York] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130922201700/http://www.cr.nps.gov/nhl/designations/Lists/NY01.pdf |date=September 22, 2013 }}, retrieved May 30, 2007.</ref>

Some municipalities have preserved sections as town or county canal parks, or have plans to do so. [[Camillus Erie Canal Park]] preserves a {{convert|7|mi|km|adj=on}} stretch and has restored [[Nine Mile Creek Aqueduct]], built in 1841 as part of the First Enlargement of the canal.<ref name="aqueduct">[[Camillus Erie Canal Park]], [http://eriecanalcamillus.com/aqueduct.htm Nine Mile Creek Aqueduct], retrieved January 4, 2012.</ref> In some communities, the old canal has refilled with overgrowth and debris. Proposals have been made to rehydrate the old canal through downtown Rochester or Syracuse as a [[tourist attraction]]. In Syracuse, the location of the old canal is represented by a reflecting pool in downtown's Clinton Square and the downtown hosts a canal barge and [[weigh lock]] structure, now dry.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Explore Nearby |url=https://eriecanalmuseum.org/visit/explore/ |access-date=2022-09-09 |website=Erie Canal Museum |language=en-US}}</ref> Buffalo's [[Commercial Slip]] is the restored and re-watered segment of the canal which formed its "Western Terminus".

In 2004, the administration of New York Governor [[George Pataki]] was criticized when officials of New York State Canal Corporation attempted to sell private development rights to large stretches of the Old Erie Canal to a single developer for $30,000, far less than the land was worth on the open market. After an investigation by the ''[[Syracuse Post-Standard]]'' newspaper, the Pataki administration nullified the deal.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ig.ny.gov/sites/default/files/pdfs/Joint%20Investigation%20Into%20Ethical%20Lapses%20at%20State%20Canal%20Corporation,%20November%202004.pdf|title=A Joint Investigation into the Contract Between the New York State Canal Corporation and Richard A. Hutchens CC, LLC|date=November 2004|website=New York State Inspector General|access-date=July 23, 2018|archive-date=December 28, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161228102424/https://ig.ny.gov/sites/default/files/pdfs/Joint%20Investigation%20Into%20Ethical%20Lapses%20at%20State%20Canal%20Corporation,%20November%202004.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

====Parks and museums====
[[File:Port Byron Old Erie Canal Heritage Park - 20210522 - 02.jpg|thumb|right|[[Erie Canal Lock 52 Complex|Old Erie Canal Lock 52]] in [[Port Byron, New York|Port Byron]]]]
[[File:Old Erie Canal State Park.jpg|thumb|[[Old Erie Canal State Historic Park]] in [[DeWitt, New York|DeWitt]]]]
Parks and museums related to the Old Erie Canal include (listed from east to west):
* ''[[Day Peckinpaugh (canal motorship)|Day Peckinpaugh]]'' ship; restoration and conversion to a floating museum was planned for completion in 2012 by the [[New York State Museum]]
* [[Watervliet Side Cut Locks]], located at [[Watervliet, New York|Watervliet]] and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971<ref name="nris"/>
* [[Enlarged Erie Canal Historic District (Discontiguous)]], a national [[Historic district (United States)|historic district]] located at [[Cohoes, New York]] listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 2004<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|2009a|dateform=mdy}}</ref>
* [[Cohoes Falls Park]], 231 N. Mohawk St., [[Cohoes, New York]], offers, looking away from the river, a dramatic view of abandoned and dry Erie Canal lock 18, high above.
* [[Enlarged Double Lock No. 23, Old Erie Canal]], [[Rotterdam, New York|Rotterdam]]
* [[Schoharie Crossing State Historic Site]] at [[Fort Hunter, New York|Fort Hunter]]
* [[Old Erie Canal State Historic Park]], 36-mile linear park from [[Rome, New York|Rome]] to [[DeWitt, New York|DeWitt]]
** Erie Canal Village, near Rome
** Canastota Canal Town Museum, [[Canastota, New York|Canastota]]
** Chittenango Landing Canal Boat Museum, near [[Chittenango, New York|Chittenango]]
* [[Erie Canal Museum]] in downtown Syracuse
* [[Camillus Erie Canal Park]] in [[Camillus (town), New York|Camillus]]
* [[Jordan Canal Park]] in [[Jordan, New York|Jordan]], town of [[Elbridge (town), New York|Elbridge]]
* [[Enlarged Double Lock No. 33 Old Erie Canal]], [[St. Johnsville (village), New York|St. Johnsville]]
* [[Erie Canal Lock 52 Complex]], a national historic district located within the [[Old Erie Canal Heritage Park]] at [[Port Byron, New York|Port Byron]] and [[Mentz, New York|Mentz]] in [[Cayuga County, New York|Cayuga County]]; listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1998<ref name="nris"/>
* [[Seneca River Crossing Canals Historic District]], a national historic district located at [[Montezuma, New York|Montezuma]] and [[Tyre, New York|Tyre]] in Cayuga County; listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005<ref name="nris"/>
* [[Centreport Aqueduct|Centerport Aqueduct Park]] near [[Weedsport, New York|Weedsport]]; listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000<ref name="nris"/>
* [[Lock Berlin Park]] near [[Clyde, New York|Clyde]]
* [[Macedon Aqueduct Park]] near [[Palmyra (town), New York|Palmyra]]
* [[Old Erie Canal Lock 60 Park]] in [[Macedon (town), New York|Macedon]]
* [[Perinton Park]] in [[Perinton, New York|Perinton]] near [[Fairport, New York|Fairport]]
* [[Genesee Valley Park]] in the city of Rochester
* [[Spencerport Depot & Canal Museum]], [[Spencerport, New York|Spencerport]]
* [[Niagara Escarpment]] "Flight of Five" locks at Lockport
* [[Erie Canal Discovery Center]], 24 Church Street, Lockport (Locks 34 and 35)
* [[Canalside District, Buffalo|Canalside Buffalo]] at the Canal's "Western Terminus"

===Erie Canalway Trail===
{{main|New York State Canalway Trail}}

===Records and research===
Records of the planning, funding, design, construction, and administration of the Erie Canal are vast and can be found in the New York State Archives. Except for two years (1827–1829), the State of New York did not require canal boat operators to maintain or submit passenger lists.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.archives.nysed.gov/a/research/res_topics_trans_recrds.shtml |title=Guide to Canal Records |publisher=New York State Archives |access-date=January 30, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081207162419/http://www.archives.nysed.gov/a/research/res_topics_trans_recrds.shtml |archive-date=December 7, 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref>