The Legacy of the Day Peckinpaugh

Join the Camillus Canal Society for our first installment of Snippets and Tales for 2026 with this great talk by Craig Williams about the famous Day Peckinpaugh. In 1921 a new canal motorship arrived at the just completed Barge Canal Terminal in Buffalo, beginning a century-long story for the vessel. During this talk you will learn how the Day Peckinpaugh traveled between the Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean with cargo, via the Barge Canal, as well as her adventures in World War II, being named to the National Register of Historic Places, the state-wide movement to save this historic vessel from the scrap yard and her future plans. **Please note this talk is in the Community Room of the Camillus Fire Department. Admission is FREE but donations are gratefully accepted. A reception will follow the presentation.

In May a brand-new exhibit at the Liz and Dave Beebe Camillus Erie Canal Park will open featuring the remaining lifeboat from the Day Peckinpaugh, which was lovingly restored by Camillus Erie Canal Park volunteers.

Our Speaker: Craig Williams is the vice president of the Board of Directors of the Canal Society of New York State. He retired in 2014 as senior historian at the New York State Museum in Albany after more than 30 years of service. At the Museum he helped lead efforts to document and preserve artifacts from the Willard Psychiatric Center, the World Trade Center and the 1971 Attica Uprising. The largest historic artifact he ever collected was the nearly 300-foot-long vessel, the Day Peckinpaugh. Mr. Williams is the recognized expert on the Day Peckinpaugh in the Canal community, and we are honored to host his talk.