Erie Canal Museum

On Veteran's Day the kids didn't have school and Joseph happened to be off as well.  We used the day to help Kimball work on Cub Scout requirements.  We took a field trip to the Erie Canal Museum in downtown Syracuse.  It was a cool place.  I learned a lot about the Erie Canal, how it helped Syracuse grow into a prosperous town and other fun tidbits about the area where we live.  Syracuse is the only place along the Erie Canal that has a preserved Weighlock...where the boats were weighed along the canal.

This sign shows what the streets looked like with the canal.

You can't see the numbers, but this picture shows how Syracuse has grown over the years.  In 1825 the population of Syracuse was 600 by 1830 it had grown to over 11,000 people due to the Erie Canal.  Today the population is roughly 145,000.

One thing that I learned is that Syracuse is sometimes called "Salt City".  I'm a bit sheepish to admit that I have lived in Syracuse 3 years and didn't know this nickname.  Here is a paragraph from Wikipedia about Syracuse and its saltiness:

The salt industry has a long history in and around Syracuse, New York. Jesuit missionaries visiting the region in 1654 were the first to report salty brine springs around the southern end of "Salt Lake," known today as Onondaga Lake.^[1] Later, the Treaty of Fort Stanwix (1784) and designation of the area by the State of New York as the "Onondaga Salt Springs Reservation" provided the basis for commercial salt production from the late 18th century through the early 20th century.^[2] The salt springs extended around much of Onondaga Lake, originating in the town of Salina and passing through Geddes and Liverpool to the mouth of Ninemile Creek, a distance of almost nine miles.^[1] The majority of salt used in the United States in the 19th century came from Syracuse.^[3] Even today, Syracuse is sometimes known as "the Salt City."