M Brockport and the Erie Canal Interpretive Panel
This is the thirteenth panel placed by the Brockport Community Museum created as a replacement for one already existing at this site as shown below. The replacement panel was funded by the Village of Brockport, and installed in 2021.
Heil Brockway, the spirit of local canal entrepreneurship
Heil Brockway (1775 to 1842) Brockport’s co-founder with James Seymour, was a land speculator, developer, home builder and brick maker. By the time the entire Canal was open in 1825 he had become the most prominent canal packet boat builder in the world. His Red Bird Packet Line carried passengers between Albany and Buffalo. Congressman Elias B. Holmes, Brockway’s son-in-law, ran the competing Opposition Packet Line.
This panel was updated by the Brockport Community Museum Exterior Sign Committee, sponsored by the Village of Brockport, and dedicated in 2021.
Interpretive Panel Text
Brockport and the Erie Canal
Heil Brockway, the spirit of local canal entrepreneurship
- Heil Brockway (1775 to 1842) Brockport’s co-founder with James Seymour, was a land speculator, developer, home builder and brick maker. By the time the entire Canal was open in 1825 he had become the most prominent canal packet boat builder in the world. His Red Bird Packet Line carried passengers between Albany and Buffalo. Congressman Elias B. Holmes, Brockway’s son-in-law, ran the competing Opposition Packet Line.
- The opening of the Brockport to Buffalo section in October 1825 marked the completion of the 348 mile Erie Canal. By linking the Hudson River to the Great Lakes, the Canal provided the first economical means of transportation between the nation’s northwestern frontier and the Eastern Seaboard and made New York City the leading American port. The cost of shipping a ton of wheat from Buffalo to New York City fell from $100 to $5-10. Communities like Brockport along this new two-way highway to the west benefited greatly from the Canal, becoming important sites in an expanding traffic in agricultural and manufactured goods.
- One of the seven Toll Collector’s offices on the canal was located on Brockport’s south bank, seen in red on the 1872 Beers map above. All canal traffic was required to stop at the village where tolls were deposited in local banks. A receipt is shown below.
Picture caption: This portion of an 1817 map shows two proposed Erie Canal routes from Rochester to Buffalo. Both make use of Tonawanda Creek near Buffalo. The route at the top, colored blue green, was chosen. “A” This early road became Lake Road, NYS Route 19. (B) shows Brockport’s location, it is not on the original map. “C” indicates the hamlet known today as Clarkson Corners.
Picture caption: Broadside describing the Red Bird Line of packet boats.
Picture caption: A typical packet boat towed by a team of mules guided by a driver on horseback.
Picture caption: This photo from the early 1900s shows three barges filled with lumber, no longer pulled by the legendary mules. The view looks west, likely from the Park Avenue bridge. The original Main Street lift bridge is in the distance.
Brockport Community Museum
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This panel was updated by the Brockport Community Museum Exterior Sign Committee, sponsored by the Village of Brockport, and dedicated in 2021.
Location: North bank of the canal, just east of the Main Street Bridge.
View: You are facing southwest. Main Street and the Main Street bridge are in the background.
Summer serenades concert where panels announced: The “Brockport and the Canal,” and the “Manufacturing in Brockport” replacement panels, were announced during this August 12, 2021 Summer Serenades concert held near the Welcome Center on the south bank of the canal. In this view you are looking to the northeast. The featured group “Feedback,” was sponsored by the Brockport Community Museum through a generous donation of a board member.
(l-r) (A Kutz presenting panels at summer serenades concert): Museum board member Archie Kutz presents the panels as Summer Serenades Master of Ceremonies Gary Skoog looks on.
The 2021 Summer Serenades concert series calendar.
This is the original “Brockport and the Canal” panel, created by William G. Andrews. It was funded by a Village canal bank improvement grant, and installed in 2000. This photo was taken in 2009 by William G. Andrews. It, and the original “Manufacturing in Brockport” panel (installed in 2006), were the forerunners that served as inspiration for the many interpretive panels created by the Brockport Community Museum since then.