The Buffalo Maritime Center will talk about the history and making of the full-sized replica of the Erie Canal Boat Seneca Chief, which first traversed the Erie Canal upon its opening in 1825. This ambitious community boatbuilding initiative, brought to life by hundreds of volunteers, took place inside the Longshed at Canalside on Buffalo’s waterfront from October 2020 to June 2024 and will embark on the Bicentennial Voyage from Buffalo to New York Harbor on September 24, 2025.

The Erie Canal Harbor Development Corporation (ECHDC) is presenting the 2025 Erie Canal Bicentennial Commemoration at Canalside in Buffalo, NY from Memorial Day through September. The EC200 Speaker Series will take place in the Buffalo Naval Park’s Hangar Building on the 2nd and 4th Thursday of the month from 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM. This series is co-sponsored by the Buffalo and Erie County Naval & Military Park and The Buffalo History Museum.

Speakers will include subject matter experts regarding Buffalo’s Erie Canal heritage and those who were key in helping develop the Waterway of Change: Complex Legacies of the Erie Canal exhibit in the Longshed Building.