Bill Text: NY K00170 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Commemorating the Bicentennial Anniversary of the opening of the Champlain Canal

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Passed) 2023-03-09 - adopted [K00170 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-K00170-Introduced.html

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Assembly Resolution No. 170

BY: M. of A. Woerner

        COMMEMORATING  the Bicentennial Anniversary of the
        opening of the Champlain Canal

  WHEREAS, It is the sense  of  this  Legislative  Body  to  recognize
events  of  historical  significance which have had a profound effect on
the development of our great Empire State and our Nation as a whole; and

  WHEREAS, Attendant to such concern  and  in  full  accord  with  its
long-standing  traditions,  this  Legislative  Body  is  justly proud to
commemorate the Bicentennial Anniversary of the opening of the Champlain
Canal; and

  WHEREAS, The Champlain Canal is a historically significant  waterway
advocated  for  by  General  Philip  Schuyler, a general in the American
Revolution and prominent New York statesman; as president of the Western
and Northern Inland  Lock  Company,  he  reported  the  results  of  his
company's  preliminary  surveys  to  the  New York State Legislature and
suggested the commercial value a canal system would create; and

  WHEREAS, The construction of the Champlain Canal began in 1817,  the
same time as the construction of the Erie Canal; many of the workers who
helped build the Champlain and Erie canals were Irish immigrants; and

  WHEREAS,  The Fort Edward to Lake Champlain section of the canal was
opened in 1819, with the main section of the canal, which  connects  the
Hudson  River to Lake Champlain, opening for navigation on September 10,
1823, the same day as the larger Erie Canal to which it is connected  in
Waterford, New York; and

  WHEREAS,  During  this  time, the Champlain Canal also connected the
Chambly Canal in  Quebec,  Canada  to  the  Saint  Lawrence  River,  and
thereafter  to the North Atlantic Ocean; as canals developed in America,
settlers were attracted to nearby communities  because  of  the  canals'
ability to provide access to markets; and

  WHEREAS,  The  completion  of the Champlain Canal created a physical
and commercial connection between Saratoga (Schuylerville) and the  U.S.
Atlantic  coast,  as  well  as  the nation's Midwest and West, which had
impacts far beyond its intended effects; and

  WHEREAS, Furthermore, the canal formed  the  first  truly  effective
means  of  inland  interstate  commerce, directly enabling the growth of
Schuylerville, Midwestern agriculture, and the  emergence  of  New  York
City  and  New York State as national and international economic powers;
and

  WHEREAS,  A  part  of  the  New  York  State  Canal   System,   this
extraordinary  canal  can  best  be described as a path through history;
prior to our country's independence, British, French and  Americans  all
traveled  north  and  south  through  this  stretch  of  the  region; in
addition, it was instrumental in the establishment of Forts  Ticonderoga
and Edward; and

  WHEREAS,  Today,  stretching  64  miles between the Hudson River and
Lake Champlain, the Champlain Canal stands as one of  the  earliest  and
most  significant  public  works  projects  in the history of the United
States; and

  WHEREAS,  It  is  the  custom  of this Legislative Body to recognize
those distinct unique waterways throughout the State of New York such as
the Champlain Canal which provide transportation opportunities  for  its
residents  and  have  become  a part of the history of this great Empire
State; now, therefore, be it

  RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its  deliberations  to
commemorate the Bicentennial Anniversary of the opening of the Champlain
Canal; and be it further

  RESOLVED,  That  a  copy  of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be
transmitted to the New York State Canal Corporation.