Navigation on the Erie Canal began in late 1819, when the packet boat The Chief Engineer of Rome made the canal’s inaugural voyage from Rome to Utica. It was the following year, in 1820 that a ...

Boaters wait to enter Erie Canal Lock E-2 to begin the first day of the 2023 navigation season for the state’s canal system on Friday morning, May 19, 2023, in Waterford, N.Y.