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SENECA CHIEF
Photos by Stephanie Trzeciak (top) and Phil Bobzien Buffalo Maritime Center (bottom two)
In May 2024, the Buffalo (New York) Maritime Center launched a full-sized replica of Gov. DeWitt Clinton’s SENECA CHIEF, the boat that officially opened the Erie Canal in 1825. Built between 2019 and 2024 as a community project at the western terminus of the canal in downtown Buffalo, the replica will become a living museum to “educate and inspire the people of New York State in reimagining the Erie Canal.” Along with master boatbuilder Roger Allen and lead boatbuilder Greg Dudley, hundreds of volunteers worked on the project in roles ranging from historical research to hands-on boatbuilding.