Newly installed interpretive kiosk in Crescent Park

The Mohawk Towpath Byway has its first interpretive kiosk located in Crescent Park at the intersections of Canal Road, Crescent-Vischer Ferry Road, and Route 9.  The kiosk has three panels: one providing the significance of the Town of Halfmoon, another that lays out the history of the Hamlet of Crescent, and a third to describe the Mohawk Towpath Byway.

This is the first of several information kiosks planned to help tell the story of the waterway west and the role our communities played in the westward expansion of the country and in the Industrial Revolution.

This project was funded by a grant to the New York State Scenic Byways Program, at the New York State Department of Transportation, through the Federal Highway Administration and the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century of 1998.  The Town of Halfmoon administered the grant obtained by the Mohawk Towpath Scenic Byway Coalition, Inc.

“Projects like this illustrates the types of community improvements that are possible through partnerships,” said Eric Hamilton, Chairman of the Mohawk Towpath Scenic Byway Coalition.  “In addition to work by the Town of Halfmoon’s Parks Department the Shenendehowa Rotary Club provided many hours of preparation and site work as a part of their Rotary Centennial Project.

Shenendehowa Rotary Help

These in kind services provided a major portion of the local match for the federal aid we received.”

An additional kiosk is planned in the spring for the Dunsbach Ferry site approximately 2 miles west.

Three additional kiosks are on the drawing boards for historic points of interest along Riverview Road.  Going east on the Byway the Town of Colonie has an information kiosk in Freddies Park just south of the Route 9 bridge.  This kiosk provides the history of the Mohawk River Crossings at this location.