Michael Bopp, identified here, sent along this post and these photos. Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan boarded Seneca Chief at Jennings Landing at the Corning Preserve on Sunday, October 20th

The Corning Preserve footprint is roughly in the same location as the Albany Basin, which opened in May 1825 to accommodate increased commercial traffic from the nearly completed Erie Canal

The Canal Society of New York State sponsored a historic marker just north of the Corning Preserve to note the location of the Hudson River entry to the Canal

Nearby, a marker notes Governor Dewitt Clinton‘s death in 1828. He was initially buried in Albany, then re-buried in Greenwood Cemetery in Brooklyn.

The Erie Canal connected Albany to our nation’s maritime industries and history, including notable author Herman Melville who lived in Albany, as well as in North Troy. In 1840 Melville traveled from New York to Illinois via the Erie canal.

For more information on Erie Canal History, visit the Canal Society of New York State.