Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand today wrote to the U.S. Department of the Interior urging the department to designate the New York State Barge Canal as a National Historic Landmark. Last month, the National Historic Landmarks Committee of the National Park System Advisory Board moved to approve the designation, making the Department of the Interior the final approval needed to officially designate the NYS Canal as a National Historic Landmark.
“Listing the New York State Barge Canal as a National Historic Landmark would fully honor the nationally-significant role that New York’s canal system has played in our country’s history,” Senator Gillibrand. “The Canal facilitated and shaped the course of settlement in the Northeast, Midwest, and Great Plains, and established New York City as the nation’s premiere seaport and commercial center. This designation would spur economic growth across Upstate New York, and appropriately honor the canal system’s place in our nation’s heritage.”
In April, Senator Gillibrand first called on the National Park Service to designate of the NYS Canal as a National Historic Landmark.
The NYS Barge Canal extends through Albany, Syracuse, Rochester and Buffalo and includes the Erie Canal, the Oswego Canal, the Cayuga-Seneca Canal, and the Champlain Canal, stretching 525 miles across New York State.
The full text of Senator Gillibrand’s letter to the U.S. Department of the Interior is included below:
Dear Secretary Jewell,
I have learned that the National Historic Landmarks Board has recommended that the New York State (NYS) Barge Canal be designated a National Historic Landmark. I write to request your expedited review and final approval of this designation before the end of the year. Listing as a National Historic Landmark would fully honor the nationally-significant role that New York’s canal system has played in our country. Furthermore, NHL designation would help to raise the waterway’s stature, and create additional economic development and tourism promotion opportunities.
The NYS Barge Canal system is composed of the Erie Canal, the Oswego Canal, the Cayuga-Seneca Canal, and the Champlain Canal, and stretches 525 miles through New York State. The Erie Canal has been in continuous operation since 1825, and has played a pivotal role in the growth and development of not only New York State, but the entire country. It facilitated and shaped the course of settlement in the Northeast, Midwest, and Great Plains, and established New York City as the nation’s premiere seaport and commercial center. The Erie Canal alone originally stretched 363 miles from Albany, New York to Buffalo, New York. During its peak in 1855, the canal system carried 33,000 shipments, and by 1882 the canal had carried over $120 million dollars in cargo. Today the canal is used almost entirely for recreation, open for walking, jogging, biking and cross-country skiing, contributing to New York and the nation’s tourism economy.
As we approach the NYS Barge Canal’s Centennial year in 2018, as well as the observance of the Erie Canal’s Bicentennial period between 2017 and 2025, NHL designation would help attract national and international attention during this important period of reflection and celebration. This attention would spur economic growth in the region, and appropriately honor the canal system’s place in our nation’s history. Given the upcoming observances, approval this year of the NHL designation is critical.
Sincerely,
Kirsten Gillibrand
United States Senator