The Things They Carried - Bolivar, Syracuse, New York - Signs of History on Waymarking.com

text: "The Things They Carried Packed with People Packet boats transported people. Each passenger was assigned a cramped sleeping quarter. Men's and women's quarters were separated by a curtain. The men's quarters doubled as the dining room and saloon during the day. Boat owners tried to pack as many people into the boat as possible, allowing them to charge less than a stagecoach."
"Freight-full Freighters transported a variety of raw materials and manufactured goods along the canal. A fully covered boat called a bullhead protected cargo that needed to stay dry like flour and grain. The uncovered deck skows transported goods like lumber and coal, which could be moved without protection from weather. Raw materials often traveled east towards Albany while manufactured goods typically traveled westward."
"Business Savy Boat Lines Line boats worked much like a bus or rail line today. Line companies stationed teams of mules in barnes along the canal. Working mules simply switched with rested ones at the designated stop. The cabin space that would have been used for mules became available to human passengers who could not afford the packet boat fare. Carrying both cargo and people was very prifitable, and in the middle of the nineteenth century line boats made up 50% of the vessels on the canal."

Group that erected the marker: New York State Address of where the marker is located. Approximate if necessary: Old Erie Canal Bolivar, Syracuse, NY US 13037 URL of a web site with more information about the history mentioned on the sign: Not listed

Visit Instructions:
Take a picture of the marker, preferably including yourself or your GPSr in the photo. A very detailed description of your visit may be substituted for a photo. In any case please provide a description of your visit. A description of only "Visited" or "Saw it while on vacation" by anyone other than the person creating the waymark may be deleted by the waymark owner or the category officers.

Recent Visits/Logs:

There are no logs for this waymark yet.