Here was the program for Saturday morning before the actual ribbon cutting. Lynn Fall, local historian, spoke about the legacy of the schooner namesake, Lois McClure.

Art Cohn discussed the history of canal schooners that once plied the lakes and canals of NYS as well as about the construction of replica canal schooner Lois McClure, whose construction began in 2000. The vessel was launched four years later to serve as an operational watercraft and traveling exhibition about “Life on a Canal Boat.” The schooner  McClure was modeled after General Butler, a shipwreck discovered in Burlington harbor in 1980, which became a catalyst for decades of archival research and underwater study. A study of the plans generated from the documentation of the original shipwreck determined that General Butler had been designed to both sail on lakes and rivers. It could also be adapted to travel through the canal system towed by horse or mule. We concluded that we had discovered the forgotten Lake Champlain “sailing canal boat.”

The new vessel, christened Lois McClure, was built as an exact clone of this hybrid freight carrier. However, while General Butler carried heavy cargos of stone, coal, agricultural products and lumber, the new replica would carry a historic perspective of life aboard a 19th century canal boat. In other words, she became a time machine.

Between 2004 and 2018 Lois McClure visited more than 300 communities along the interconnected waterways and welcomed more than 300,000 people aboard. Now located within the canal prism at Port Byron, Lois McClure  will resume her mission to preserve and share the story’s and lessons gleaned from the archaeology and history of the region. 

Between the morning events and the afternoon, a VIP luncheon was held at Potter’s Farm, with

cookies decorated with Lois McClure and CSNY logos created by Pam’s Cakes & Sweets of Pittsford.

The Port Byron Old Erie Canal Heritage Park is now open. Stop by.