Albany, New York forming a continuous water route from the Great Lakes to New York City. Unlike the current Barge Canal, which ends at nearby Waterford, the original Erie Canal ended at Albany; Lock 1 was north of Colonie Street. The Canal emptied into a man-made lagoon called the Albany Basin, which was Albany's main port from 1825 until the Port of Albany-Rensselaer opened in 1932. In 1829, while working as a professor at the Albany Academy, Joseph Henry, widely regarded as "the foremost American scientist of the 19th century", built the first electric motor. Three years later, he discovered electromagnetic self-induction (the
Bay Ferries Great Lakes Bay Ferries Great Lakes Bay Ferries Great Lakes was a marketing name used by Bay Ferries Management Limited, a subsidiary of Northumberland Ferries Limited (NFL). In February 2005 Rochester Ferry Company LLC, a subsidiary of the City of Rochester, New York purchased the high speed catamaran ferry "Spirit of Ontario I" in a bankruptcy auction after previous owner Canadian American Transportation Systems (CATS) shut down the inaugural service in summer 2004 after it operated for 11 weeks. In April 2005, Rochester Ferry Company LLC selected NFL as the operator of the ferry service using "Spirit of Ontario I" between Rochester