Syracuse is a city in New York State. It’s home to the Erie Canal Museum, tracing the waterway’s history in the 1850 Weighlock Building.
Syracuse is a city in New York State. It’s home to the Erie Canal Museum, tracing the waterway’s history in the 1850 Weighlock Building. In the old state armory, the Milton J. Rubenstein Museum of Science & Technology (MOST) offers interactive exhibits and a planetarium. Designed by I.M. Pei, the Everson Museum of Art focuses on American artwork.
1. Erie Canal Museum
The Erie Canal Museum is a historical museum about the Erie Canal located in Syracuse, New York. The museum was founded in 1962 and is a private, non-profit corporation. It is housed in the Syracuse Weighlock Building dating from 1850. The Syracuse Weighlock Building was in operation as a weighlock from 1850 to 1883. In 1883 the canal decided to stop charging tolls. The weighlock building was essentially used as a big, elaborate scale to weigh the boats traveling on the Erie Canal and determine how much each boat would pay for a toll. Today the museum includes not only artifacts from the Erie Canal but also a gallery of present canal life. It is the mission of the museum to help people to learn the rich history of the Erie Canal and that it is not just a thing of the past, but still very much exists today in different forms. The museum’s Weighlock Building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1971.
2. Museum of Science & Technology (MOST)
The Milton J. Rubenstein Museum of Science and Technology is a science and technology museum located in the Armory Square neighborhood of Downtown Syracuse, New York. The Museum includes 35,000 square feet of exhibits, Science Shop, the only domed IMAX theater in New York State, and a planetarium.
3. Everson Museum of Art
The Everson is a museum of firsts. It was the first museum to dedicate itself to the collection of American art, to create a permanent collection of ceramics, to collect video art, to create a docent program and to hire the now internationally-known architect I.M. Pei to design its building, a sculptural work of art in its own right. The Everson is home to approximately 11,000 works of art: American paintings, sculpture, drawings, video, graphics and one of the largest holdings of international ceramics in the nation.
4. Rosamond Gifford Zoo
The Rosamond Gifford Zoo at Burnet Park is a zoo in Syracuse, New York. It is owned and operated by Onondaga County Parks with support from Friends of the Zoo. The zoo is home to more than 700 animals on 43 acres. Some of the more popular animals include Asian elephants, Humboldt penguins, and Amur tigers. The zoo also houses a conservation education center, banquet/meeting space, Jungle Cafe, and gift shop. The Rosamond Gifford Zoo has been an accredited member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums since 1987.
5. Clinton Square
Clinton Square, in downtown Syracuse, New York, was the original town center and first came into existence in the early 19th century where roadways from north and south convened. By 1825, the construction of the Erie Canal further transformed the busy intersection into the center of commerce and trade in Central New York. The canal was filled in during 1925 and was converted to Erie Boulevard, a major thoroughfare that runs east to west through the city. Today the square is a popular location for outdoor events and festivals in the city and is located on Erie Boulevard West and North Salina Street in downtown Syracuse.