This year, the Erie Canal turns 200 years old. It is a symbol of American ingenuity and fortitude. In the early 19th century, the United States suffered from an almost nonexistent transportation infrastructure. The roads that did exist became impassable whenever it rained, with carriage wheels buried axle deep. When the roads dried, they were deeply rutted and uneven. Moving goods by wagon was very expensive because the amount that could be carried was limited. As a result, rivers and waterways were the most economical means to transport goods and materials. Cities and industry sprang up next to rivers, lakes, and the ocean. One problem with waterways was they didn’t always go where they were needed. For example, a farmer in central New York, who produced large amounts of corn found it very expensive to move his corn to market, one wagonload at a time. Or consider the Great Lakes, a huge waterway but only connected to each other. A canal would be the perfect answer to open the Great Lakes to broader markets.

A canal to connect the Great Lakes and its growing population with the Hudson River, going through central NY, was first proposed in the 1780s. However, it wasn’t until 1808 that a survey was actually conducted. President Thomas Jefferson called the proposed canal “little short of madness” and refused to provide any federal funds. That meant NY would have to finance the entire cost. When deciding on the canal’s path, one might think landowners would oppose having land taken from them. That wasn’t the case, as landowners gladly sold or gave land to have a lucrative trade route running through their town’s backyard.

Amid much controversy, New York’s Legislature authorized construction which began on July 4, 1817. Many thought the canal an absurdity, calling it “Clinton’s Folly” and “DeWitt’s Big Ditch” after Governor DeWitt Clinton, the canal’s driving force. Even before it was finished, the canal had far-reaching effects. When Illinois petitioned for statehood (1818), its northern border was just south of Lake Michigan. Knowing the canal was being built, Illinois’ congressional delegates petitioned to have its border extended 60 miles north, giving it room for a port city on the lake. (Chicago was not yet founded.) As the digging progressed, the various sections were opened as completed. The full canal opened on October 26, 1825. 

Consider the scale of the canal’s undertaking, especially in the early 19th century. Its 363-mile length is greater than Georgia’s 355 miles of Interstate 75. Nothing was mechanized -- no steam shovels and no trains to transport the fill. (America’s first railroad wasn’t until 1828.) The entire ditch was dug by hand. All materials were transported by horse or ox-drawn wagons. Stone to build locks, walls, and aqueducts were hand-cut and shaped. Aqueducts were built to span creeks, rivers, and wide valleys. One aqueduct was 950 feet long to cross an 800-foot-wide river. Additionally, there were 83 stone locks, 90 feet long by 15 feet wide, that raised and lowered barges the 571 feet elevation change between Buffalo to Albany. As the ditch progressed, the dirt was used to fill gulleys and small valleys, creating a canal that was 40 feet wide and four feet deep with a tow-path on both sides. Much of the labor was done by Irish immigrants and German stonemasons. At the time, there was almost no engineering or infrastructure expertise in the country. They learned as they went. For example, James Geddes and Benjamin Wright, who laid out the canal’s path, were judges whose only surveying experience was settling boundary disputes. Wright sent an assistant to Europe to study building large infrastructure projects, particularly constructing locks. 

To keep costs down, the path avoided (to the extent possible) swamps and stone cliffs/hills. The first problem encountered was finding labor. The country was expanding westward and people wanted land for themselves. So, there weren’t enough men to do the work required. The first year only ten miles were dug. However, increased immigration eventually eased that problem. Another problem was clearing the path and leveling the ground. Most of the canal’s path went through virgin forest that had never been cleared. The trees were huge, as were the stumps. It all had to be cleared, the ground leveled, rocks blasted when needed, a 363-mile ditch dug, and then the necessary stone walls, locks, and aqueducts built. A final challenge was the 70-foot-high Niagara Escarpment, the same rock formation that creates Niagara Falls. Since each lock only raised/lowered the barges 15 feet, a stairstep of locks was built for the escarpment. When one considers the scope of the project, it’s amazing that it only took eight years to build. Europeans were astonished it was built so quickly. 

The Erie Canal was the first large-scale infrastructure undertaking in U.S. history. The first boat to traverse its entire length was the Seneca Chief, with now-senator DeWitt Clinton on board. Almost immediately, the canal dramatically impacted the entire country. The Midwest had a direct water connection to New York’s harbor, which was invaluable to cities like Detroit, Cleveland, Toledo, and eventually Chicago. Also, the canal allowed New York City (and the North) to commercially compete with the Mississippi River system and New Orleans (and the South) as the major port-of-entry for the growing trade of inland states. 

It’s difficult to fully understand the huge economic impact the canal had on commerce. A bushel of Midwest grain could be shipped from the far reaches of Lake Michigan all the way to Buffalo, transloaded onto a barge and hauled to Albany, transloaded again for the journey down the Hudson River to New York City. The cost of hauling farm products and manufactured goods immediately fell by over 90%. Midwestern farm products and lumber flowed east; manufactured goods flowed west. NYC became the nation’s premiere seaport, the gateway to interior northern markets, the country’s commercial center, and the financial capital. The canal helped New York become the “Empire State,” the leader in “population, industry, and economic growth.”

The first year it opened, traffic exceeded all expectations. The canal became so successful that within a decade it was expanded to 70 feet wide and seven feet deep to accommodate increased demand. Traffic continued to increase reaching a peak of 33,000 commercial shipments in 1855. However, by then, railroads had improved and expanded and were very competitive with barge traffic. Gradually, canal traffic declined, becoming less competitive, a trend that deepened as the country’s highway infrastructure grew in the 20th century. The opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway (1959) was the final nail in the canal's coffin. 

Today, the canal is mostly used by personal and tourist watercraft, everything from kayaks and canoes to sizeable luxury boats. It is one of the few pieces of America’s 19th-century industry still in use. It was 200 years ago, this week, that the Erie Canal opened and forever changed America.

Image: Public Domain