Building America’s Canals
October 17, 2009 - January 10, 2010

Erie Canal is an exciting educational exhibit displaying how locks work. This is a nuts-and-bolts affair that presents families with some of the same engineering challenges the nation's founders faced during America's westward expansion. Visitors can construct and operate miniature cranes, locks and aqueducts, and even analyze the costs of various canal systems.

Join the Sloan Museum on a journey through a time when “Michigan Fever” gripped the United States. Using the Erie Canal as a starting point, families and whole communities picked up stakes and moved west. Cheap land prices and the desire for a new life led these pioneers to risk the unknown and settle in Michigan. Listen to the voices of the travelers as you navigate the treacherous waters of Lake Erie and later drive your team of horses through the mud and forest. Home was a plot of land and a lot of work!

To sign up for the following programs, contact 810.237.3409.