Erie C an Alw Ay a Water Route to National Unity and World Trade

Home , Cohoes Falls, Erie Canal, Lakes to Locks Passage, Mohawk River, New York State Capitol

A Water Route to National Unity and World Trade The Erie Canal opened vast areas of Americans have always been a restless lot, with an An Engineering Marvel Originally 4 feet deep and Most continued on to New York City’s seaport, towed Continuing the Connection Success quickly spurred the upper Midwest to settlement and commercial agriculture because urge to move beyond their home territories. For many 40 feet wide, the Erie Canal cut through fields, forests, down the Hudson in fleets behind steam tugboats. Mid- expansion and enlargement of New York’s canal system to it was the first reliable, inexpensive at the beginning of the 19th century, the Erie Canal rocky cliffs, and swamps; crossed rivers on aqueducts; and western farmers, loggers, miners, and manufacturers found handle more and bigger boats. It triggered canal mania—a way to carry heavy, bulky cargo was the route to opportunity and prosperity in the overcame hills with 83 lift locks. The project engineers and new access to lucrative far-flung markets. rash of canal building across the eastern United States

between the Great Lakes and the r e v i Atlantic Seaboard. R American interior. Long before railroads, interstate contractors had little experience building canals, so this and Canada in the mid-1800s, before railroads became the e c n NEW YORK e r highways, or jets the Erie Canal opened the interior of massive project served as the nation’s first practical school A Flow of People and Ideas The Erie Canal and a principal means of hauling freight and passengers. From w Lake Erie a L Connecting to New York City via the . t Erie Canal Hudson River at Albany, the canal S a continent and shaped the future of a young nation. of civil engineering. Some laborers were Irish immigrants, system of connecting waterways fulfilled DeWitt Clinton’s 1905 to 1918 New York State built the Barge Canal system,

exploited the only low-elevation pas- but most were U.S.-born. For eight years of wet, heat, and prophecy that New York would be America’s preeminent a robust grandchild of the Erie, Champlain, Oswego, and A New York L sage through the eastern mountain City P Opening America The Erie Canal was North America’s cold, they felled trees and excavated, mostly by hand and state, populated from border to border and generating Cayuga-Seneca canals. M chains between Georgia and Canada. A River H

National Park Service Park National Interior the of Department U.S. o C hi most successful and influential public works project. wealth for itself and the nation. Soon New York City was Alternative routes via the Ohio and O animal power, mile after mile. They devised equipment E Mississippi rivers or St. Lawrence K r Built between 1817 and 1825, this 363-mile-long canal was to uproot trees and pull stumps and developed hydraulic the nation’s busiest port, most populous city, and foremost Although commercial traffic declined after the St. Law- A e v L River (map at right) took longer to i R

i Horses and mules powered New York’s canal p the first all-water link between the Atlantic seaboard and cement that hardened under water. With hand drills and seat of commerce and finance. Immigrants knew they rence Seaway opened in 1959, New York’s Canal System is navigate and were subject to delays p i

i system until 1918. They walked on towpaths, s s from flood, drought, and ice. These i Great Lakes. New York Govenor DeWitt Clinton relent- black powder they blasted rocks. Their ingenuity and labor could find work there or in many new cities sprouting still in service. New York canals, both active and retired, connected to boats by a long towline. Animals M routes also reached tidewater far lessly promoted its construction. Skeptics just as force- made the Erie Canal the engineering and construction along the canal. As it opened the American interior to set- are now vibrant places to enjoy both water- and land- and crews usually worked in shifts around the from major population centers. clock: six hours on, six hours off, resting in fully derided it as “Clinton’s Ditch,” but Clinton would be triumph of its day. tlement, the canal brought a flow of people and new ideas. based recreation and to learn about and celebrate our stables and bunks on board between shifts. Other canals—in Pennsylvania, vindicated. The canal advanced Euro-American settlement Social reform movements like abolitionism and women’s nation’s heritage. Maryland, and Virginia—that sought to breach the mountain barrier and of the Northeast, Midwest, and Great Plains, sometimes Faster, Cheaper Canal packet boat passengers traveled suffrage, utopian communities, and various religious move- capture Erie Canal trade lacked such at the expense of Native populations. It fostered national in relative comfort from Albany to Buffalo in five days—not ments thrived in the canal corridor. The Erie Canal carried topographical advantage. Most were unity and economic power. It made New York the Empire two weeks in crowded stagecoaches. Freight rates fell 90 more westbound immigrants than any other trans-Appa- not completed, and none proved a financial success. State and New York City the nation’s prime seaport and percent compared to shipping by ox-drawn wagon. Freight lachian canal. These newcomers infused the nation with seat of world trade. boats carried Midwestern produce from Buffalo to Albany. different languages, customs, practices, and religions. Black Whitehall River Canal ADIRONDACK MOUNTAINS LAKE ONTARIO Oswego Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor Heritage National Canalway Erie York New Canal A R A E S Rome Path of Least Resistance A G C A Oneida I R P Rochester N M E Lake Lockport N T Canal engineers chose the path of least resistance across Utica Niagara Erie Lyons anal Champlain Falls C New York State’s complex topography, but the route was Little Falls Canal CANADA Syracuse Mohawk not always easy. The map at right shows mid 19th-century Cayuga- Ri ve Seneca r New York at the peak of its canal era when a system of Cohoes Buffalo Genesee Canal Falls artificial waterways reached throughout the state. Several Valley L A K E E R I E FINGER LAKES Canal Cayuga Schenectady canals were abandoned in the face of competition from Lake Crooked railroads, but the Erie, Champlain, Oswego, and Cayuga- Lake Albany Canal N E W Y O R K Seneca canals are still operating today. Seneca r e

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H Chemung Profile in Locks and Levels Canal Canals conquer space with succes- Canal Topography Profile sions of lift locks and levels. Lake The heavy brown line atop the Erie Canal Profile Erie is 570 feet higher than the historic map at right shows the Hudson River at Albany. On the changes in elevation overcome original Erie Canal, 83 stone-walled by the Erie Canal’s locks between locks lifted and lowered boats in an Albany and Buffalo. irregular staircase. E r i e C a n a l

Sixteen locks were required to climb out of the deep Hudson Valley past Cohoes Falls near the mouth of the Mohawk River. The canal climbed steadily along the Mohawk from Schenectady to another steep rise at Little Falls. From there the long level—a 58-mile stretch of flat water requiring no lock—carried boats over a drainage divide at Rome and on to relatively flat terrain south of Oneida Lake and north of the Finger Lakes.

The final barrier westward was at At Buffalo, Midwest products were transferred from lake Syracuse’s Clinton Square made it clear why people called Connecting the Hudson River to Lake Lockport where twin, five-lock stair- steamers and schooners to canal boats. Rochester was America’s first inland boom town. The the canal “New York’s Main Street.” Champlain at Whitehall, the Champ- stone aqueduct carried the enlarged Erie Canal over the cases, called “the Lockport Flight,” lain Canal opened markets for forests, Genesee River. It now supports the Broad Street bridge. climbed the steep Niagara escarp- farms, mines, and mills in New York’s ment. A deep rock cut then opened Adirondack region and in Vermont. a watery path on to Lake Erie and the upper Great Lakes.

Paintings, songs, illustrations, stories, furniture, dec- orative pottery, and photographs celebrated the New York canal system. Late 19th- and early 20th-century postcards show structures, settlements, scenery, and canal boats from one end of the state to the other. Twinned sets of five locks at Lockport let boats overcome Lyons typifies how communities’ grocery stores, taverns, New York State Barge Canal Lock 17 replaced four locks the steep Niagara escarpment that gives rise to Niagara factories, and warehouses edged the canal to supply of the Enlarged Erie Canal in 1916. The world’s highest Falls. These canal structures remain landmarks today. goods and services to canal boaters and to villagers. single lift lock at the time, it raised boats over 40 feet. New York State Canals ��s ��7−�� −�� −�� −��6 ��−�� Mohawk River canals and locks built New York State builds Erie and Fueled by its Erie Canal success, Success-choked Erie, Champlain, Chemung, Chenango, Crooked Lake, New York State Barge Canal System St. Lawrence Seaway opens, al- Congress establishes Erie Canalway by the Western Inland Lock Naviga- Champlain canals. Erie connects New York State builds the Oswego, and Oswego canals are enlarged: Oneida Lake, and Genesee Valley supersedes Erie, Champlain, Os- lowing ships to go from the Great National Heritage Corridor to help This 1862 painting by William Wall tion Company allow freight boats to Hudson River with Great Lakes: 363 Cayuga–Seneca, Chemung, Crooked 7 feet deep; locks 110 feet long, canals abandoned, late 1870s. Peak wego, and Cayuga–Seneca canals. Lakes directly to the Atlantic Ocean. preserve and interpret New York captures a sense of serenity along the travel from Schenectady to Oswego miles long. Champlain connects Lake, and Chenango canals. 18 feet wide; boat capacity 240 Erie Canal tonnage, 1880; tolls end, Built for self-propelled vessels it uses Commercial traffic declines on New State’s historic canal system and the Erie Canal as it ran along the Mohawk and Seneca Lake. Hudson River with Lake Champlain: tons. Twinned chambers lock boats 1882. By 1896 lengthened chambers canalized rivers, lakes, and land-cut York canals. communities along its banks. River’s south bank west of Little Falls. 66 miles. Both canals are 4 feet through in both directions at once. let most Erie Canal locks pass two sections, minimum depth 12 feet. The painting is now in the Canojoharie deep; locks 90 feet long, 15 feet Genesee Valley and Black River boats through in tandem. Electrically powered locks pass boats Erie Canalway Erie Library and Art Gallery. wide; boat capacity 30 tons. canals completed. 300 feet long. Montreal

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12 Lake There are many partners Selected 19th-century National Park System New York State Park System Champlain in Erie Canalway Nat- canal structures are NHP National Historical Park SCP State Canal Park 30 8 Lake ional Heritage Corridor. shown in blue. Abbre- NHS National Historical Site SHA State Heritage Area George Whitehall Information along the viations for park areas NM National Monument SHP State Historic Park 81 Whitehall SHA canal can be found at are listed at right. NST National Scenic Trail SHS State Historic Site the sites shown in green SP State Park H. Lee White Maritime Museum CHAMPLAIN CANAL on the map. Fort Ontario SHS Oswego

149 Fort Ann L A K E O N T A R I O 3 OSWEGO CANAL Glens 18 13 Fort Stanwix NM Erie Canal construction Falls ERIE CANAL Fulton began here, July 4, 1817 Rome 8 Fort Edward 19

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A A Holley Phoenix Erie Canal Village D Albion 104 49 87

A Brockport Rochester High Falls SHA 365 48 Sylvan Beach 12 Medina 31A Genesee River Falls & Gorge 34 Oneid Oak Orchard Aqueduct Genesee Aqueduct/Broad Street Bridge a Lake Oriskany Lock 20 Schuylerville Lockport IROQUOIS NATIONAL Spencerport Rochester Baldwinsville 46 Schuyler House 31 WILDLIFE REFUGE 98 Battlefield SHS SCP Great Lockport Flight 21 31 Sacandaga (part of Saratoga NHP) Niagara Erie Canal Discovery Center 14 414 Oriskany 29 Falls 490 Cross Salt Museum Lake Niagara Falls Lockport Canal Museum Fairport Lake Liverpool P ERIE CANAL Saratoga Springs SH Oneida Barge Canal Lock 17, highest North Clyde Onondaga O nal Utica single lift in the system Macedon Jordan ld Erie Ca 5 Tonawanda W E S T E R N E R I E C A N A L S TAT E H E R I TA G E C O R R I D O R Pittsford 31 Newark Lake 5S Little Falls 29 9 32 Herkimer 4 Palmyra Lyons Canastota Frankfort Schoharie Crossing SHS VT N 190 78 Y Weedsport 90 NEW YORK STATE THRUWA Palmyra Aqueduct Canastota Canal Town Museum Saratoga NHP i Tonawanda St. Johnsville Schoharie Aqueduct a 5 Camillus 173 Fayetteville Ilion g Batavia Port 90 M Yankee Hill Lock a Nine Mile Creek Aqueduct 67 ra MONTEZUMA Byron Chittenango Herkimer o 40 Ri NATIONAL Erie Canal Park 92 h Fonda ve 5 a r WILDLIFE REFUGE Chittenango Landing Canal Boat Museum Home SHS r 63 167 w ve Amsterdam 77 Syracuse Fort Plain k i Lock 4 SCP Big R CAYUGA–SENECA CANAL Cayuga Auburn Clinton Square 28 5 Mechanicville 20 5 Weighlock Building 20 80 Nose 30A Lock 9 SCP Canandaigua Canajoharie 30 Erie Canal Museum Canajoharie Library Little Nose Rexford Buffalo Geneva Waterloo Syracuse SHA Erie Canalway National Heritage 20 Seneca Falls and Art Gallery Western terminus, 19th-century Erie Canal Women’s Rights NHP Vischers Corridor Visitor Center Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural NHS 89 Seneca Falls SHA M O H AW K VA L L E Y S TAT E H E R I TA G E C O R R I D O R Ferry Waterford Buffalo SHA Schenectady L A K E E R I E 390 Seneca Museum of Waterways Waterford Flight Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society Museum S Schenectady SHA Peebles Island SP e 90 and Industry Canandaigua n C Waterford Harbor Visitor Center e a 20 Lake c y a u 13 Troy g Aurora 10 L r a a e Hudson-Mohawk SHA iv k L 34 R e a Cooperstown Cohoes 90 k k e e e Cohoes Falls e e s Dresden r e Erie Locks 4–18 C n e ie Hudson-Mohawk SHA G r 14 a h 414 o Cortland 28 h c North S 12 88 Albany Taughannock Eastern terminus, 19th-century Falls SP Erie & Champlain canals 0 40 Kilometers FINGER Albany SHA LAKES New York State Museum 90 NATIONAL 0 40 Miles Keuka Oneonta Schuyler-Mansion SHS Lake FOREST 81 Ithaca New York State Capitol Canals operating today Buttermilk Falls SP Watkins Glen 19th-century canals Watkins Glen SP 13 Montour Falls 87 Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor H U D S O N R I V E R

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The 350-mile-long Canalway Trail parallels the Erie Canal from Historic cargo vessels, tugs, and pleasure boats operate side-by- Canal towns are great places to explore on foot. Built to pass 300-foot-long cargo vessels, Barge Canal locks are Waterford Tugboat Roundup, Oswego Harbor Fest, and events in Buffalo to Albany. side in the Barge Canal system. open to many types of watercraft. many other canalside communities offer up-close opportunities to experience the living heritage of New York’s waterways.

A New Kind of National Park Erie Canalway prepare for its future. This partnership helps ensure that canals, Mohawk and Hudson rivers at Waterford to Lake Champlain at How to Get Here Several interstate highways cross the For information about the 524-mile-long system of waterways, National Heritage Corridor is one of nearly 30 federally des- towpaths, structures, and other historical and natural features Whitehall, is still being developed. The navigable canal system Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor. The New York State boater facilities, and the Canalway Trail along the Erie Canal ignated national heritage areas. Its purpose is to help preserve remain preserved and accessible to you and to thousands of and Canalway Trail are operated by the New York State Canal Thruway (I-90) roughly parallels the Erie Canal route from between Albany and Buffalo, visit the New York State Canal and interpret the historical, natural, scenic, and recreational others who visit every year. Corporation, a state agency. Albany to Buffalo. Still, the best way to explore canal country Corporation website: www.canals.state.ny.us. For information resources reflecting its national significance and to help foster by car is along state and county roads that hug the water more about New York State parks, historic sites, and state heritage revitalization of canal-side communitites. Things to Do More than 500 miles of interconnected Historic sites and museums throughout the Canalway Cor- closely and thread through the hamlets, villages, and cities that areas visit: www.nysparks.state.ny.us. Parks & Trails New York canals, rivers, and lakes are open to navigation from May 1 ridor welcome visitors. Four are national park sites: Theodore grew along the waterways. These are: N.Y. 31 in western New organizes an annual cross-state bicycle tour along the Erie Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor includes 524 miles through November 15. On-water activities include cruising, Roosevelt Inaugural in Buffalo, Women’s Rights in Seneca Falls York, N.Y. 5 and 5S in the east, N.Y. 32 and N.Y. 4 along the Canal and publishes a guidebook with maps Cycling the Erie D rowing, canoeing and kayaking, motor boating, and fishing. and Waterloo, Fort Stanwix in Rome, and Saratoga Battlefield Canal: www.ptny.org/canalway. Histories and guidebooks on U N of navigable waterway that make up the New York State Canal Champlain Canal, N.Y. 481 along the Oswego, and a host of S O N D System. It includes the Erie, Cayuga–Seneca, Oswego, and Watercraft ranging from canoes and small rowboats to fully in Stillwater and Schuylerville. There are New York State smaller roads in between. The Lakes to Locks Passage along the New York’s canals and canal-side communities are legion, with L A I S Champlain canals, as well as their historic alignments and the equipped canal cruisers may be rented throughout the canal Heritage Area visitor centers at Buffalo, Rochester, Seneca Falls, Champlain Canal and the Mohawk Towpath along the eastern new ones published every year. Check your local library and N G L O 234 cities, towns, and villages that touch the canal system. The system. You don’t need a boat to enjoy the Canalway Corridor. Syracuse, Schenectady, Albany, Waterford, Cohoes, and Troy, end of the Erie have been designated National Scenic Byways. booksellers. Canalway Corridor encompasses 4,834 square miles in 23 Waterfront parks in communities and at canal locks across the as well as a system of New York State Historic Sites. There are Amtrak provides passenger rail service through the Canalway counties and is home to 2.7 million people. Upstate New York’s state offer many opportunities to picnic, play, fish, or just sit on municipal and non-profit museums and historic sites in many Corridor with several stops each day in Buffalo, Rochester, Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor is an affiliated area largest population centers—Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, and the bank and watch the boats go by. canal communities. Syracuse, Rome, Utica, Schenectady, and Albany and daily of the National Park System. The National Park Service helps the state capital Albany—all grew up along the canal and are service along the Champlain Canal with stops in Fort Edward care for special places saved by the American people so that all New York City within the Canalway Corridor today. Nearly three-quarters of a 350-mile-long, off-road Canalway Upstate villages and cities are proud of their connections to and Whitehall. may experience our heritage. To learn more about parks and Trail has been completed between Albany and Buffalo. When the canal system. Take some time to stroll through canal towns. National Park Service programs in America’s communities visit The Federal Government does not own or manage national finished it will be the nation’s longest multiple-use trail. The Buildings and public spaces from the heyday of canal com- For More Information For up-to-date Canalway www.nps.gov. heritage area lands as it does with traditional national parks. trail closely parallels the Erie Canal, giving access to communi- merce still give many communities a distinctive character. Corridor information and links to related sites, visit the Erie Instead, people, businesses, non-profit historical and environ- ties and many connecting trails. The Canalway Trail is open to Check local media for notice of canal heritage days, tug and Canalway National Heritage Corridor websites: www.nps. mental organizations, towns, cities, counties, and the State of hikers, joggers, and bicyclists as well as cross-country skiers steamboat gatherings, festivals, farmers’ markets, art shows, gov/erie and www.eriecanalway.org. New York work together to protect the Canalway Corridor and in winter. Some sections are suitable for in-line skating. The plays, and concerts. Champlain Canal Trail, running from the confluence of the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor Heritage National Canalway Erie