Erie Canalway Heritage Corridor
It was not until 1999 that the City of Buffalo found the key to a successful waterfront redevelopment campaign: focus on the Erie Canal Heritage Corridor. This is an excerpt from the 2004 master plan for the Erie Canal Harbor project in Buffalo, New York. Courtesy of New York State Library via Empire State Digital Network.
An Act of Congress in the year 2000 established the Erie Canalway Heritage Corridor to preserve and ensure public access to historical features along the Erie Canal’s route. The heritage site now includes thirty-four National Historic Landmarks, 800 listings on the National Register of Historic Places, four National Parks, one National Forest, two National Wildlife Refuges, one National Scenic Trail, four National Natural Landmarks, eleven State Wildlife Management Areas, nine New York State Historic Sites, and twenty-four State Parks. Some 1.6 million people visit some part of the Canal each year.
The New York State Canal Corporation, the quasi-government body responsible for the management and development of the Erie Canalway Trail, maintains that over three-quarters of the 365-mile Erie Canal path is usable for bicycling, walking and even cross-country skiing.
