Programs

Join historian Craig Williams for an illustrated lecture exploring the extraordinary work of 19th-century canal cartographer David Vaughan. An Irish immigrant who arrived in Albany in the late 1840s, Vaughan brought with him the skills New York State urgently needed to support the first enlargement of the Erie Canal. His detailed maps and plans not only guided the engineering of one of America's greatest infrastructure projects, but also captured the dynamic life and landscapes along the canal. Learn how Vaughan's artistry and precision earned him national recognition, and how his legacy lives on through records preserved in the New York State Archives.