There will be a trip through time in downtown Syracuse this weekend, as the Erie Canal Museum commemorates the visit of a Revolutionary War hero.
It has been 200 years since the Marquis de Lafayette toured the Syracuse area, but Derrick Pratt, the director of education and public programming at the Erie Canal Museum, said his legacy lives on.
"Lafayette's tour had a huge impact on central New York, I mean, just in the names of the towns alone,” Pratt said. “Both Fayetteville and Lafayette are inspired by this visit."
In 1825, in honor of the 50th anniversary of the American Revolution, Lafayette, one of the last surviving generals, launched a two-year tour of America during the country’s Era of Good Feelings.
"He would visit every single one of the American states over that, and he was met with great fanfare throughout the country," Pratt said.
One of Lafayette’s priorities was to visit the Erie Canal. He rode in several boats on the waterway and saw part of it being built. Pratt said it was an engineering marvel of its time. Prior to its construction, transporting goods from Buffalo to New York City was an arduous journey that took about a month and would cost about $100 per ton.
"After the Erie Canal opens, that voyage is going to be cut to 5-7 days, and the price goes down to less than $10 a ton, so it's revolutionary in how people move around,” said Pratt. “Time and space are kind of greatly shrunk for the average American."
Pratt said the Erie Canal was also the country’s first major public works project, built and paid for by New York state.
This Saturday, June 7, in honor of Lafayette’s trip, the Erie Canal Museum will host a talk from Lafayette Trail President Julien Icher, then lead a walking tour to Talking Cursive Brewing Company.
A new beer called “Lafayette’s Farewell” will be released. Co-owner and head brewer Andrew Brooks said it’s an Albany Ale, and he calls it a "100 percent New York state beer."
"It's two row barley, six row barley, and flaked corn for the mash, and then we used crystal hops from Cobblestone Hop Yard in Ontario, New York," he said.
Brooks said the beer is similar to what would have been brewed along the canal at the time of the Marquis’ visit.
The beer release is part of the Erie Canal Museum’s Bicentennial Brews project. It will also host "Beers, Bikes and Barges" events starting later this month.
