Every Day Is Special: October 26 - The Erie Canal Opens

October 26 - The Erie Canal Opens

Posted on October 26, 2021

This is an update of my post published on October 26, 2010:

On this day in 1825, transportation in the Northeastern U.S. changed forever.

For the first time, the Atlantic Ocean was connected to the Mid-West (the Great Lakes) by a waterway that didn't require portage. This means that there was no waterfall area that was impassable by boat, now, as there always had been before.

When you are traveling by boat and then have to "portage," you have to get out of the boat, unload it, and somehow haul the boat and the cargo over land...and then get back in the river when you've passed the waterfall or other problematic area.

You can see why river routes that require portage cannot be traversed by large boats with large cargos, right? No way to haul a really large ship up or down whatever slope caused a waterfall!

Starting on October 26, 1825, transport costs from the Great Lakes to the Atlantic fell by 95%!

And what made all of that possible? The completion of the Erie Canal.

A canal is like an artificial river, a waterway constructed for boat travel. Canals usually connect existing lakes, rivers, or oceans. One famous canal is the Panama Canal, which connects the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The Erie Canal is nearly as famous and was very important to the development of cities like Chicago and New York City.

Many canals feature locks, which are boat-sized chambers in which water level can be raised or lowered. Locks are used in places where canals have to change altitude, because each lock acts almost like a stair step.

In the case of the Erie Canal, the land rises 600 feet (180 m) along the route of the canal, from the Hudson River at Albany, NY, to Lake Erie at Buffalo, NY. Apparently there are 36 “stair-steps” or locks along the length of the 363-mile (584 km) canal.

To celebrate the opening of the canal in 1825, a flotilla of boats set off with a 90-minute cannonade. The boats carried passengers, including New York Governor Dewitt Clinton, from Buffalo to New York City in just ten days. In New York Harbor there was a ceremonial “wedding of the waters” as the governor poured some Lake Erie water into the harbor. On the return trip, a keg of Atlantic Ocean water was carried to Lake Erie to complete the ceremony.