Local events and other goings-on for genealogy and family history enthusiasts

The Erie-Extension Canal.

I have long been intrigued by the Erie Extension Canal Historical Marker at the corner of 26th and Asbury. High school history classes do not spend much time learning about the history of canals on the Great Lakes,  and my only first hand experience with one was on a childhood trip to Niagara Falls, and truthfully, it was not one of the memorial moments of that vacation 🙂

As a genealogist, I’m especially interested in the human element of canals: job opportunities they created, the people who built them, and the impact of the canal on families in 19th century Erie County.

So I’m particularly excited about a new exhibit which opens this week at the Erie Maritime Museum on East Front Street.

The Erie-Extension Canal, once known as the Erie & Beaver Canal, was opened in 1844. This inland waterway, which connected Lake Erie to Pittsburgh and the Ohio River, was instrumental in Erie’s industrial growth and its importance as an American port city

You can learn more about the history of the canal and its role in Erie’s economic and industrial development, at a new exhibit which opens at the Erie Maritime Museum  on Thursday March 21, 2013. The exhibit, The Erie-Extension Canal:  Gateway to the Great Lakes, is part of the museum’s regular admission, and will run through June. For more information, check out the museum’s website. You can also find information about the exhibit at VisitErie.