I’ve already urged you to register for the Canal Society Winter Symposium on March 7 in Rochester. More info here.

Maybe you’ve read the program, but still haven’t signed up. Maybe you’re not sure what you’ll hear and learn about at the symposium. Here’s a different view–a graphic view–of the program and in no particular order.

You’ll learn about a hand-drawn survey map newly rediscovered and its odyssey. The map was created before the original canal was dug, the fruit of tedious work with chain and links by none other than Benjamin Wright before 1815 and then lost, mislabeled. Craig Williams describes the map and their context as “pieces of the true cross.”

You’ve heard of Utica, maybe even visited. If you’ve not been there, it’s a gem to put on your summer travel stops.

Do you know this lock and what lies behind it? Tug44 has been there. You can learn more about what’s planned behind this lock at the symposium.

Also on the agenda, this historic vessel made its way out of the Canal and down the Hudson in November 2025. Hear the new owner talk about his plans for the 1921 original ErieCanalMax cargo ship, currently called Day Peckinpaugh. Here’s how she–then known as  Interwaterways Line Incorporated 101, or ILI 101, looked back in 1921.

Garnet Douglass Baltimore graduated as a civil engineer from RPI in 1881 and went on to work on engineering projects on the Erie Canal system. The African-American participation in all aspects of canal work is an under-reported story. That’s on the program.

Over 700 cobblestone buildings have been identified along the Erie Canal. Learn about them and Albion NY’s Cobblestone Museum at the symposium.

You may remember this image in a post from late October 2025. You’ll learn more about this band and its music created in honor of the 200th anniversary of the opening of the Erie Canal. Of course, related to the 200th, updates of the 2026 season of Seneca Chief and its planned journey back to Buffalo this summer . . . that’s on the agenda as well.

The new NYPA tugboats, including Thomas X. Grasso and Rome and two more yet-to-be delivered come from Blount Boats in Warren RI. Colonial Belle is also a Blount vessel; here’s a Dispatches post about Colonial Belle and other current excursion vessels on the canal. A presentation aboutBlount Boats and the canal is on the agenda. One of their creations, Grande Caribe, below, is coming through the guard gates in Rome.

Ready to register for the Symposium? Hurry, as space is limited.

I’d love to do a post on Blount boats using photos shot on the NYS Canals. If you have vintage photos of Niagara Prince and of course Emita II, please contact me at canalsocietyofnysphotos@gmail.com.