The Museum collects printed and manuscript materials, maps, photographs, motion picture film, digital materials, video and audio recordings (such as oral histories), paintings, artifacts and other items which deal with the Enlarged Erie Canal, the Old Erie Canal, the New York State Barge Canal, the lateral canals, and the pre-Erie Canals of New York State.
Diaries written by David Earl Whitford and his children, Lizzie Whitford, Marie Whitford, and Oscar Whitford. David Earl Whitford was a New York State Engineer.
Correspondence of Davis Hurd, Engineer and Surveyor. Hurd was the resident engineer in charge of the Erie Canal enlargement from Brockport, NY to Buffalo, NY.
Correspondence between John P. Wood and various family members and business associates. Wood and his sons, Able and Abram, ran a shipping business on the Erie Canal.
Research material, news articles, canal related booklets, and Canal Society of New York State meeting schedules and documents belonging to Canal Society member Larry A. Johnson
Magazine and news articles, reports, and travel brochures pertaining to the Panama Canal and other Central American and Caribbean countries. Collection of Newell Rossman Jr., Syracuse University Vice Chancellor, who served as Chief of the Research and Service Bureau of the Panama Canal Zone.