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Section: Life & Leisure
A Bygone Era in Lockport Comes to Life
By Christopher Schobert
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History Center highlights include the Raphael Beck mural The Opening of the Erie Canal
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The “Lock-Stock-&-Barrel
Mercantile” recreation and
information on working the locks.
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The exterior of the
Erie Canal Discovery Center.
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Main and Market Streets in Lockport, 1953.
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The History Center of Niagara, home of the Niagara County Historical Society, has produced a fascinating look back at the area’s history. Its downtown Lockport DVD series utilizes old footage to offer a glimpse into the past, one that might even feature recognizable faces. Douglas Farley, the director of the History Center and Erie Canal Discovery Center, provides us with some details on how these unique discs came to be, and what’s to come.
Tell me a bit about downtown Lockport DVD series. Where does the footage come from?
The 1940s film footage was received as a donation to the History Center. This is actually the case with all of our archive items. We depend on the kindness of the community to donate all of our old photographs, etc. The ’40s film was shot by a professional crew that came to Lockport to shoot a promotional video that merchants could pay a fee to take part in. The silent film was shot around town and the result was shown at the Schine Palace Theater for folks to see themselves in the movies. The 1960s DVD that we finished up this year is actually still-shots that are given “life” through scan techniques that mirror movement in the scene, through panning.
Has the remastering process been difficult?
It is more time consuming than difficult: selecting pertinent shots, arranging into reasonable chapters, adding captions and working with White Bird Productions to digitize and remaster.
What has the response been so far? And have there been any surprise sightings?
The results have been excellent — the sales have far exceeded our expectation. Mark Beckstein from White Bird has been wonderful to work with. He may bring an order of 50 DVDs in the morning and by mid-afternoon, I’m calling him to ask for a reorder for the next day! Many people are surprised to see their relatives in the shots. They’ve told us they’ve seen their parents and grandparents in the ’40s videos. The ’60s DVD is great because so many boomers still alive today have lived through the “great-transition” that was the ’60s as urban renewal changed the face of nearly every community.
This is an ideal offshoot of the History Center of Niagara and the Erie Canal Discovery Center. What are some of the other programs you’re involved with right now?
The video project is actually produced by the History Center. We utilized the Erie Canal Discovery Center to screen our products to the community in the summer before we went into retail with them, mainly because we have a nice theater there for that purpose. The Discovery Center is closed for the winter months and will reopen May 1, but in the meantime we have had school tours just about every day, and we can open for any group that would like to come.
So what exactly is the relationship between the Discovery Center and the History Center?
The History Center — the Niagara County Historical Society — operates and is the parent of the Erie Canal Discovery Center. The Center was created through a community partnership that came together to open this award-winning, state-of-the-art interpretive center for the history of the Erie Canal, and especially the Lockport Flight of Five Locks.
What are the goals of the Discovery Center, and how do these goals manifest themselves in the community?
Our goals are to educate tourists, area students and residents about the amazing story of the Erie Canal, and how it changed the face of America. In that vein, we have enjoyed helping fourth grade teachers with their New York State Board of Regents mandate to teach local history which includes the Erie Canal. We reach out to area tourists through living history presentations that utilize a cadre of actors who play the role of famous people from Lockport’s past. We partner with the Lockport Visitor’s Center to provide much needed travel information to people from all over the world who visit to learn more about “15 miles on the Erie Canal ...” One of our goals is to continually upgrade and change our facilities so that something is always new.
What can visitors look forward to in the year ahead?
We would like to begin production of another new video to show in our virtual-reality theater. Our current show depicts a typical passenger’s ride through the locks, complete with “holographic-style” lock tender and boat ride simulator. Our plan is to create another movie production that simulates life onboard a canal freight boat and what it would have been like to live on the canal 24/7. Beyond that, as I said before, we are just days away from another announcement, and if we are successful, will have some amazing results.
The History Center of Niagara is located at 215 Niagara Street in Lockport (434-7433); the Erie Canal Discovery Center can be found at 24 Church Street in Lockport (439-0431). To purchase the DVDs, visit www.niagarahistory.org.
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