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The Erie Canal is a historic canal in upstate New York that runs east–west between the Hudson River and Lake Erie. Completed in 1825, the canal was the first navigable waterway connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes, vastly reducing the costs of transporting people and goods across the Appalachians.
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- Design and construction
Erie Canal, historic waterway of the United States, connecting the Great Lakes with New York City via the Hudson River at Albany. Taking advantage of the Mohawk River gap in the Appalachian Mountains, the Erie Canal, 363 miles (584 km) long, was the first canal in the United States to connect western waterways with the Atlantic Ocean. Construction ...
Beginning in the 1780s, various plans were proposed to improve navigation on the Mohawk River. In 1792 the Western Inland Lock Navigation Company was incorporated by the state of New York and given the rights to improve navigation on rivers and lakes west of Albany. Under the leadership of Philip Schuyler, the company focused most of its activity on the Mohawk River, clearing the riverbed and digging several short canals to bypass river rapids. Although the company achieved some success in making improvements to the river, it never had the financial resources to tackle the larger navigation obstacles in the river.
The Western Inland Lock Navigation Company, which found itself short of funds and snarled in state partisan politics, never completed its plans. Nonetheless, the Mohawk River still provided a valuable path from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes, and plans for a new canal were debated. In 1820 the state of New York purchased the company’s works, closing the books on the 18th-century canal scheme.
Meanwhile, a new canal project had been gaining momentum. In particular, DeWitt Clinton had promoted the idea of a western canal as early as 1811 while serving in the New York state senate. He won preliminary legislative approval in 1816 and was named commissioner for the project. In 1817, following election as governor of New York, Clinton persuaded the state legislature to authorize loans for $7 million to build a canal from Buffalo, on the eastern shore of Lake Erie, to the upper Hudson, passing through the Mohawk Valley region. Chief engineer Benjamin Wright and his corps of self-taught engineers (there were no engineering schools in the United States at that time, though the project prompted several schools to start engineering programs) were successful in overcoming the technological problems faced by the canal, which needed to move boats through more than 150 metres (500 feet) of elevation.
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With a typical canal prism shape—12 metres (40 feet) wide on the top, 8.5 metres (28 feet) wide at the bottom, and 1.2 metres (4 feet) deep—the engineers patterned the Erie Canal after the Middlesex Canal in Massachusetts. The Erie required 83 locks, each made of stone, to move boats up and down the natural elevations. The locks were designed so that each needed only one person for its operation. The canal also required the construction of 18 aqueducts to carry the canal over bodies of water. With nature presenting more daunting obstacles on both the western and eastern sections, construction began in the middle segment on July 4, 1817, with Clinton officiating the groundbreaking at Rome, New York.
Mar 15, 2018 · Learn about the Erie Canal, a 363-mile waterway that connected the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean in 1825. Discover how it transformed New York City into a commercial powerhouse and influenced the development of the Midwest and the nation.
Erie Canal Road Trips; News & Articles. Back; By Interest: Bike/Hike the Canals; Canal Road Trips; By Region: Cayuga/Seneca Canals; Champlain Canal; Eastern Erie Canal;
Learn how the Erie Canal, a man-made waterway that connected the Hudson River to the Great Lakes, transformed America's trade and development in the 19th century. Discover the engineering challenges, the economic impact and the cultural legacy of this engineering marvel.
- Nick Yetto
Learn how the Erie Canal transformed New York and the nation with its engineering, economic, and social impact. Explore the canal's history, culture, and significance as a national treasure and a national park.
Nov 22, 2021 · The Erie Canal was the beginning of a national transportation system, connecting ports on the Great Lakes with eastern markets. To reach into the Midwest, America needed canals built farther inland. Seeing the benefits of the Erie Canal, Ohio caught canal fever. By 1825, plans to link Lake Erie with the Ohio River were underway.
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