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NYS schedules events to mark Erie Canal bicentennial

National Park Service

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP)  New York State is planning to commemorate this year's 200th anniversary of the groundbreaking for the Erie Canal with aseries of major events along the waterway.

The state Canal Corp. announced Thursday that it will host three premier events in Waterford, at the canal's eastern terminus; Lockport, near the waterway's western end; and Rome in central New York, where construction began on July 4, 1817.

The yearlong celebration kicks off May 19 in Waterford, near Albany. The next big event is July 8 at Lockport's set of locks known as the Flight of Five.

The third major event is scheduled for July 22 in Rome, where the "first dig" will be re-enacted.

Other events are scheduled into September.

The 1825 opening of the canal connecting Lake Erie to the Hudson River spurred the nation's westward expansion.

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