• New York City as the seaport and commercial center;
   
  
• Albany, the eastern gateway to the system;
   
  
• Syracuse, a city that grew from a swamp at the center of the system;
   
• Rochester, the manufacturing city by the falls and America’s first inland boom town;
   
• Buffalo, grain port and industrial colossus at the western gateway.

You’ll find evidence of New York’s canal age in the buildings and streetscapes of large and small communities across the state. Not only do canal towns share similarities in layout and orientation to the waterway, in most cases their architecture reflects the prosperity that characterized upstate New York from 1825 through the end of the 19th century.
  
From Main Street shops to historic sites to concerts and events, the
distinctive character, hometown hospitality, and numerous attractions of canal towns and cities are worth a visit.
  
Check local media for notice of canal heritage days, tug and steamboat gatherings, festivals, farmer’s markets, art shows, plays, and concerts.