SCOW Archives

New Canal Tour Boat

Has Successful First Season

Scow’s ERIE CANAL BOAT

Introduces 1,500 People to Canal System

          The ERIE CANAL BOAT, the tour boat project of the State Council on Waterways, carried nearly 1,500 people during an abbreviated season in New York’s Mohawk Valley this year. Most of the passengers had never been on the canal previously, and many were school children learning about the Erie Canal and local history for the first time. 

          “SCOW’s mission is to promote the canal system, and we decided to do so by providing public access to the waterway in a very beautiful but underutilized section,” said Kent Barwick, chairman of the organization, which was chartered in 1986. “The Canal Place Development Association has long considered a tour boat to be the missing piece of their remarkably successful effort to revitalize the former mill section of Little Falls.”

          The tour boat initiative was based in Little Falls, Herkimer County, and cruises departed from Benton’s Landing in a redeveloped area bordering today’s canal. SCOW’s first trips began in August during the Little Falls Canal Days Celebration, and ended with a final school field trip through the Waterford Flight in October on the way to dry-dock. The boat also visited Utica and Marcy during its 12 week season, and had earlier visited Waterford for the 4th Annual Tug Boat Roundup in September, carrying 336 people on cruises through Lock 2 at the gateway to the Erie Canal. It carried senior citizen groups, foreign and out of state tourists, visitors to the antique shops of Canal Place, and 30 dogs and their owners during its initial season. A full season of school trips and scheduled sightseeing service will be provided in 2003, as will visits to canal festivals from May through October.

          Schedules and additional information for the coming season will be posted on this web site in early 2003. The project is supported by membership support and donations from individuals, foundations and corporations. Tax deductible contributions are gratefully accepted by SCOW at Post office Box 126, Waterford, New York 12188.