Along the Erie Canal with the Municipal Seals of the Cities, Towns and Villages of New York

The Erie Canal made New York into The Empire State and transformed the shape of a young nation. Many towns and villages along the Erie Canal might never have existed if it weren't for what many called the "Eighth Wonder of the World."

Every picture tells a story and so do many of the official seals of the municipalities along the Erie Canal. Their symbolism tells the story of the canal itself from the perspective of those who were directly affected. Generations of people derived their livelihood from the canal, cities and towns prospered and grew, and their seals reveal the source of their prosperity. In them we find canal boats being towed by mules, we see great aqueducts crossing over rivers and swamps, we see canal locks and the numerous businesses that flourished alongside the canal. In their seals we also find modern pleasure craft symbolizing the recreational aspect of the canal today.

2017 marks the 200th anniversary of the first shovelful of dirt dug for the Erie Canal. First published in 2010, this Bicentennial Edition has been revised and expanded to include information about other canals in New York State, notable men who built the canal, inventions that came from the construction of the canal, works of art depicting the Canal Era, and Erie Canal museums in New York State. A larger appendix shows the seals and tells the story of canals built in other U.S. states as a result of "Erie Canal envy."

The Erie Canal made New York into The Empire State and transformed the shape of a young nation. The official seals of the municipalities along the canal tell its history. First published in 2010, this Erie Canal Bicentennial Edition has been revised and expanded to include extra information for school children, history buffs and educators.
Marvin Bubie was born and raised in the Capital District, graduating from Averill Park High School and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He is retired from General Electric and has lived in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Virginia. In addition, he spent eighteen months in Germany with the US Army, and has returned to Europe many times visiting Switzerland, Italy, Austria and Germany. Over the years he has collected the seals from various cities, towns, counties, boroughs, and villages in this country, as well as those in Europe. He has published two similar books, "On the Trail of Henry Hudson and Our Dutch Heritage Through the Municipal Seals in New York," and "Celebrating the American Revolution: Municipal Symbols of a Free Country," and is at work on another book of seals related to railroading heritage.

Two centuries ago the towns, villages and hamlets along what would become "Clinton's Ditch" were poised for an explosion of growth the likes of which mankind - and certainly a young America - had never seen. Among even the most audacious human achievements, and feats of stupendous engineering, the awe-inspiring Erie Canal has no parallel. Its impacts, which still today resonate across two hundred years of time and development, were more than its advocates could have even dreamed. Today, we are still connected by the waterway which made New York City the financial capital of the world, made New York The Empire State, and provided the ink which drew the map of the United States as we know it. It's wonderful how Marvin Bubie allows us to explore, through their municipal seals, these distinctive communities with identities and cultures as rich and diverse as the iconic achievement that is their common bond - the Erie Canal.

Brian U. Stratton, Director, New York State Canal Corporation (2017