Along the Erie Canal with the Municipal Seals of the Cities, Towns and Villages of New York

The Erie Canal made New York into The Empire State and transformed the shape of a young nation. Many towns and villages along the Erie Canal might never have existed if it weren’t for what many called the “Eighth Wonder of the World.”

Every picture tells a story and so do many of the official seals of the municipalities along the Erie Canal. Their symbolism tells the story of the canal itself from the perspective of those who were directly affected. Generations of people derived their livelihood from the canal, cities and towns prospered and grew, and their seals reveal the source of their prosperity. In them we find canal boats being towed by mules, we see great aqueducts crossing over rivers and swamps, we see canal locks and the numerous businesses that flourished alongside the canal. In their seals we also find modern pleasure craft symbolizing the recreational aspect of the canal today.

2017 marks the 200th anniversary of the first shovelful of dirt dug for the Erie Canal. First published in 2010, this Bicentennial Edition has been revised and expanded to include information about other canals in New York State, notable men who built the canal, inventions that came from the construction of the canal, works of art depicting the Canal Era, and Erie Canal museums in New York State. A larger appendix shows the seals and tells the story of canals built in other U.S. states as a result of “Erie Canal envy."