New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation Planning Unit Canal Trails Project Files
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Overview of the Records
Repository:
New York State Archives
New York State Education Department
Cultural Education Center
Albany, NY 12230
Summary:
This series covers those segments of the New York Canalway Trail that were owned by the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic
Preservation (OPRHP), and therefore contains records created during the period in which OPRHP managed those segments. Records
include reports, correspondence, maps, memoranda, photographs and slides, inspection reports, landowner agreements, legislation,
planning files, individual trail master plans, copies of master plans of towns impacted by trail development, environmental
impact statements and environmental assessments, and other related background materials.
Creator:
Title:
Canal trails project files
Quantity:
Inclusive Dates:
1967-1999
Bulk Dates:
1975-1990
Series Number:
22459
Administrative History
During the 1960s, some communities along the Erie Canal, seeking new ways to benefit from the canal that had lost most of
its commercial traffic, began building local trails on remnants of the old towpath. The first public expression of the Canalway
Trail concept came with the release of the New York State Canal Recreation Development Plan in the early 1970s. Soon thereafter,
the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (OPRHP) and the New York State Department of Transportation (DOT)
entered into a formal agreement for joint development of the 524-mile long canal system for recreational purposes. This system
included the Erie, Oswego, and Champlain canals.
These two agencies made arrangements with landowners over the years to acquire the land necessary to construct these trails,
and many sections of the Canalway Trail were constructed over the next two decades. However, the Canalway Trail was owned
and managed in piecemeal fashion: some trail segments were managed by OPRHP and others by the Department of Transportation.
During the 1980s, both OPRHP and DOT turned over management of their trail segments to the Canal Corporation, even though
they continued to legally own them. OPRHP also used to manage the parks that were located at the various locks along the canals,
but management of these sites was also turned over to the Canal Corporation at the same time. More sections of the trail have
been constructed by the Canal Corporation over the years since the transfer, and OPRHP has taken on merely an advisory role
in the continued planning and development of canal trails.
The Canalway Trail System is composed of four major segments: the 100-mile Erie Canal Heritage Trail in Western New York;
the 36-mile Old Erie Canal State Park Trail in Central New York; the 60-mile Mohawk-Hudson Bikeway in the eastern Capital
Region; and the eight-mile Glens Falls Feeder Canal Heritage Trail in the foothills of the Adirondacks near Lake George. In
addition, there are smaller segments of the Canalway Trail System. These trail segments and other areas of the Canalway Trail
System connect with trails leading throughout New York State, providing one of the most extensive trail networks in the country.
Scope and Content Note
This series covers only those segments of the Canalway Trail that were owned by the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic
Preservation (OPRHP), and therefore contains records created during the period in which OPRHP managed those segments. Records
include reports, correspondence, maps, memoranda, photographs and slides, inspection reports, landowner agreements, legislation,
planning files, individual trail master plans, copies of master plans of towns impacted by trail development, environmental
impact statements and environmental assessments, and other related background materials.
Other Finding Aids
Available at Repository
Folder list.
Access Restrictions
There are no restrictions regarding access to or use of the material.
Access Terms
Geographic Name(s):
Subject(s):
Genre(s):
Function(s):
Detailed Description
Dates |
Contents |
Box |
Accretion: 22459-12 |
|
Saratoga County - Erie Canal Park Lock 6 Waterford |
1 |
|
Albany County - Erie Canal Riverfront Park |
1 |
|
Albany County - Erie Canal Riverfront Park, con't |
1 |
|
Saratoga County - Erie Canal Waterford and Halfmoon |
1 |
|
Saratoga County - Erie Canal Riverbed |
1 |
|
Saratoga Region - Trails Mohawk River Trailway |
1 |
|
Albany County - Erie Canal Crescent Branch Bikeway |
1 |
|
Albany County - Erie Canal SARA/CAP Aqueduct Branch Schenectady |
1 |
|
Canals - Feeder Canal Towling |
2 |
|
Canal - Organization for Action for the Riverfront |
2 |
|
Canal - MOU Canal Trail |
2 |
|
Canal - Photos Locks 1-23 |
2 |
1989 |
Canal - Traffic Report |
2 |
|
Canal Recreationway Plan |
2 |
|
Canal Recreationway Plan Thruway Authority |
2 |
|
Canal Trails Association of NY |
2 |
|
Barge - Champlain Canal Region |
2 |
|
Champlain Canal - Warren County |
2 |
|
Champlain Canal Park - Lock 11 Saratoga County Stillwater |
2 |
|
Champlain Canal - Saratoga County |
2 |
|
Barge/Erie Canal Region |
2 |
|
Erie Canal - Saratoga/Capital Region Saratoga County |
2 |
|
Champlain Canal - Saratoga/Capital Region Washington County |
2 |
|
Monroe County - Barge Canal Trail from Pittsford to Perinton |
3 |
|
Canal Park - Lock 30 Macedon Wayne County |
3 |
|
Monroe County - Canal Park Lock 32 Pittsford |
3 |
|
Barge Canal Trail - Monroe County Pittsford Lock 32 to Wayneport |
3 |
|
Monroe County - Genesee Valley County Park |
3 |
|
Monroe County - Rochester Canal town |
3 |
|
Monroe County - Rochester NY Genesee Gateway Park |
3 |
|
Monroe County - Rochester Outer Loop Bikeway |
3 |
|
Erie Canal - Oneida County "MUD" Utica, Marcy-Utica-Deerfield Transp. Study |
4 |
|
Onondaga County - Canal Museum in Syracuse |
4 |
|
Erie Canal - Oswego County |
4 |
|
Erie Canal - Cayuga County |
4 |
|
Erie Canal - Finger Lakes Region |
4 |
|
Barge Canal - Genesee Region Monroe County Planning |
4 |
|
Barge Canal - Monroe County Planning, con't |
4 |
|
Canal Trail - Rotterdam Junction to Amsterdam |
5 |
|
Erie Canal - Albany County SARA/CAP Region "Glenville Hike and Bike Trail" |
5 |
|
Erie Canal - Albany County SARA/CAP Region Heritage Trail |
5 |
|
Erie Canal - Albany County SARA/CAP Region Schenectady Hike and Bike Trail |
5 |
|
Erie Canal - Montgomery County |
5 |
|
Erie Canal - Montgomery County Trail from Fort Plain to Ilion |
5 |
|
Erie Canal - Schenectady County (OAR) |
5 |
|
Schenectady County - Canal Park Lock 9 Rotterdam Junction |
5 |
|
Erie Canal - Central NY Region Herkimer County Abandoned Erie Canal Lands |
5 |
|
Erie Canal - Herkimer/Oneida Counties Trail from Ilion to Utica |
5 |
|
Erie Canal - Herkimer County Herkimer to Poland Recreationway |
5 |
|
Monroe County - Rochester Outerloop Trailway |
6 |
|
Orleans County - Holley Wide Waters to Albion Wide Waters |
6 |
|
Orleans County - Medina Terminal Canal Park - Marine Services Area |
6 |
|
Barge Canal - Niagara Frontier Region Niagara County |
6 |
|
Barge Canal - Niagara County Parks Maps |
6 |
|
Niagara County - Barge Canal Trail Lockport Terminal to Isleview |
6 |
|
Niagara Region - Niagara Escarpment Trail Lockport Terminal to Lewiston |
6 |
|
Erie Canal - Lockport Erie Canal Trail |
6 |
|
Erie Canal - Amherst Canal Trailway |
6 |
|
Erie Canal - Herkimer County Moss Island, Lock 17, Herkimer House |
7 |
|
Moss Island (Little Falls) con't |
7 |
|
Moss Island (Little Falls) con't |
7 |
|
Oneida County - Bike and Hiking Trails, Rome, Black River Canal |
7 |
|
Oneida County - Old Oneida Lake Canal Trail, Higginsville to Barge Canal |
7 |
|
Oneida County - Boat Launch at West of Lock 22 |
7 |
|
Oneida Lake Trail - From Verona Beach to Fulton |
7 |
|
Oneida Lake Breakwater (Sylvan Beach) |
7 |
|
Madison County - Old Erie Canal Trail from Rome to Dewitt |
7 |
|
Erie Canal - Oneida County |
7 |
|
Oneida County - Canal Park, Lock 20 Whitesboro - Rt. 49 3 miles W. Utica |
7 |
|
Erie Canal - Onondaga County |
7 |
|
Canal - Barge Canal - Sesquicentennial data, etc. |
8 |
1989 |
Barge Canal - Legi-tech bill report |
8 |
|
Barge Canal - Feasibility Study |
8 |
|
Trails - Coordination - Canals, etc. |
8 |
|
Canal- Development Program for NYS |
8 |
|
Canal - Planning and Development |
8 |
|
Canal - Development Program for NYS con't |
8 |
|
Environmental Review Studies (Impact Statements) |
9 |
|
Canal - American Canal Society |
9 |
|
Erie Canal - Albany County |
9 |
|
Canals - Barge Canal Inspection |
9 |
|
Canals - Cruise and Chart Kit - Erie Canal |
9 |
|
Canal - Barge Canal - Correspondence, Sesquicentennial data, etc. |
9 |
|
Erie Canal - Albany County - Crescent Branch Bikeway, Municipal Agreements |
9 |
|
Canal Development Program |
9 |
|
Canals - Legislation hearings |
9 |