History Center representatives celebrate Earth Day
Representatives of the Saratoga County History Center recently participated in a statewide spring cleaning initiative along the New York State Canal System to honor Earth Day 2021
This multi-community celebration, called the Canal Clean Sweep, is the product of a partnership between the New York State Canal Corporation and Parks & Trails New York.
On Saturday, April 24, trustees, staff, and members of the History Center teamed up with the Quaker Springs Country Kids 4-H Club to clean-up the Old Champlain Towpath Canal Trail in the towns of Saratoga and Stillwater. The following day, History Center folks were joined by New York State Senator Daphne Jordan (R, C, I-Halfmoon), Saratoga Deputy Town Supervisor Michael McLaughlin, and students from the Notre Dame Visitation Church School to restore the March to Surrender Canal Trail in Saratoga.
“It was wonderful taking part in the Saratoga County History Center’s Canal Clean Sweep,” Jordan said in a press release. “I was proud to be part of this volunteer effort to clean up the trail as we successfully picked up several bags of trash, litter, and debris along the Canal Trail and roadside. Preserving and protecting our historic trails and great outdoors is vitally important to ensure our region’s scenic beauty and rich, historical heritage can be enjoyed today and by future generations.”
“This is a beautiful section of the Canalway Trail System,” added Sean Kelleher, second vice president of the History Center and historian for the Town of Saratoga. “The Wilbur Road in the towns of Saratoga and Stillwater leads right into the Saratoga National Historical Park. The March to Surrender Canal Trail is across US 4 from the new National Park Service’s Sword Surrender Site and follows the same route as the British soldiers that surrendered in 1777.”
Canal Clean Sweep highlights the growing significance of the Canalway Trail System as a recreational and tourist destination, both regionally and locally. Community organizations, service groups, municipalities, and businesses across the state participated in the celebration, hosting more than 100 local clean-up activities in canal-side parks, community spaces, and on their local Canalway Trail segments.
Beginning with the completion of the Erie Canal in 1825, the 524-mile New York State Canal System is comprised of four waterways: the Erie, the Champlain, the Oswego, and the Cayuga-Seneca Canals. Every season is special on such an historic and cherished system, but this year’s spring cleaning has added significance as it coincides with the second year of the Erie Canal bicentennial era, and the centennial year of the modernization of the canal system with the construction of the New York State Barge Canal.
The Canalway Trail System saw increased use in 2020, with nearly 3.9 million visits to the 360-mile Erie Canalway Trail, a more than 30% increase over 2019. These figures reflect significant investments made as part of the completion of the Empire State Trail, and increased interest and participation in outdoor recreational activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic.