2009 Scenic Byway Award Winner - Interpretation

2007 Shipwrecks of the Great Lakes Seaway Trail Project
Byway:	Seaway Trail
States:	New York and Pennsylvania

Diving Deep To Share A Maritime Heritage 
The Shipwrecks of the Great Lakes Seaway Trail project combined traditional exhibit and expert-speaker 
elements with a new theme-based outdoor storyteller interpretive signage system. It comprehensively 
featured land-based and underwater maritime heritage resources exclusive to the Seaway Trail.

The project empowered the Seaway Trail Foundation to partner with dynamic organizers, such as those 
at the New York Sea Grant, and renowned sponsors and speakers who helped to engage new public audiences. 
Byway-based program hosts linked the theme to the byway, and Seaway Trail Discovery Center exhibits and 
activities as well as a website further reinforced the experience. 

The Seaway Trail capitalized on its geographic positioning to partner with science-based organizations, 
educational groups and relevant businesses. The Associated Press even highlighted the byway as a fantastic 
freshwater destination for scuba divers and history buffs, garnering international recognition for the 
route. Attendance rose 24 percent and retail sales increased 7 percent at the Discovery Center from 2006 
to 2007 during the project. Combining resources, knowledge and platforms into one theme-based series 
exhibited the byway in its entirety—a critical project objective—and rekindled a spirit of local stewardship 
for the historic dive sites.