Next year, the Erie Canal turns 200 years old. And in preparation for those celebrations, a replica of the first boat to ever travel the Erie Canal is on her way to the water.

Our Breanna Fuss has been following the story of the Seneca Chief.

Final preparations have begun to get the Seneca Chief out of the longshed at Buffalo's Canalside, which has been her home for the last four years as she was being built. 

Crews have been meticulously placing this 44-ton, 73-foot boat onto a truck before it starts part one of its journey to the Port of Buffalo. From there, it will be placed into the water and then will be tugged by a historic boat by the name of Churchill. 

It took four years and more than 200 volunteers to bring this boat to life. But this is more than just a show there's a deeper meaning behind re-creating this boat. 

The Seneca Chief will float in a commercial slip as a floating museum and classroom until she makes her way down that Erie Canal next September, as part of the bicentennial celebration of the Erie Canal.

The public is invited to come down and check out the boat as she floats here in the commercial slip.