Preview
Creation Date
1905
Description
This lantern slide depicts a view of the mouth of the Erie Canal in Buffalo, New York, a significant construction work that helped to shape American history. Built between 1817 and 1825, the canal stretches 363 miles between Albany and Buffalo, New York, making it the longest artificial waterway in North America. The purpose of the canal was to connect the Hudson River with Lake Erie, providing a waterway passage that let ships pass through the Appalachian Mountains, contributing to Midwest settlement and Westward expansion. The construction project was one of the first public works challenges the United States had to overcome, since the designing engineers had no experience with canal building, requiring them to pull inspiration from Europe, and the canal had to be excavated and constructed by hand and animal labor. The canal opened new trade opportunities with the United States interior, causing New York City’s ports at the mouth of the canal to become immensely profitable. The canal was so successful that it was able to pay off its construction debt within the first year of its operation and promoted the growth of cities such as Albany, Buffalo, Syracuse, Rochester, and Utica. The canal would spend much of the Twentieth Century fighting to stay useful, competing against first railroads and then trucking companies, eventually being relegated to recreational use when its last business contract ended in 1994.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Keywords
Erie Canal, Canal, Lake Erie, Hudson River, New York
