The city flourished after the opening of the Erie Canal in 1825, and the Erie Canal Museum, a restored 1850s canal-boat-weighing station set along the canal, celebrates the waterway’s importance to the region. Other attractions include the Milton J Rubenstein Museum of Science and Technology, which has a planetarium and a terrarium with live lakeshore creatures, and Rosamond Gifford Zoo in Burnet Park, with 14.5 hectares (36 acres) and more than 1000 animals in their natural habitat. The Everson Museum of Art features the nation’s largest display of US ceramics. Life in the 17th century is recreated at the Sainte Marie Among the Iroquois Living History Museum; the Sainte Marie mission was built by the French in 1657 at the invitation of the Iroquois people. The Canal Center has a canoe launch and facilities for biking, hiking and picnicking, while visitors to the Cedarvale Maple Syrup Company can see how maple syrup is made.