Video: Canal Stories

Jump onboard a canal boat with Albert Gayer (1898-1976), who grew up alongside the Erie Canal in Schenectady. (Courtesy: New York State Museum)

Bootleg on a canal boat! Evamay Wilkins shares her family's secret for transporting whiskey on the Champlain Canal in the 1920s. (Courtesy: New York State Museum)

As a young girl, Catherine Charron spent hours listening to her great-grandfather and grandfathers tell stories about their canal boat family. Now it's Catherine's turn to pass on the stories. (Courtesy: City Lore, Erie Canal Museum)

After twenty-odd years on the Erie Canal, Engineer Dave Gower has a few words of advice and more than a few stories to tell. (Courtesy: City Lore, Erie Canal Museum)

Lifelong Buffalo resident and architect Robert Coles recalls how ethnic tensions influenced access to the canal and shaped a city. (Courtesy: City Lore, Erie Canal Museum)

Take a nostalgic journey with Don Meixner, who has lived all his life in and around the Erie Canal. (Courtesy: City Lore, Erie Canal Museum)

Robert Montross' grandfather was no stranger to trouble along the Old Erie Canal...or to starting that trouble! Folklorist and musician George Ward sings Boatin' on a Bullhead, a traditional canal song, while Robert tells his story. (Courtesy: City Lore, Erie Canal Museum)

Childhood labor may be a thing of the past, but the daily chores of a nine year old mule driver are still remembered by Jesse Wimett. (Courtesy: New York State Museum)

Tugboat Captain Steve Wunder shares his passion for working on the canal through stories and poetry. (Courtesy: City Lore, Erie Canal Museum)