How The Big Ditch Changed America Forever
It’s 351 miles long, running from the Hudson River near Albany on its eastern end to the Niagara River just outside of Buffalo, New York, at its western-most point. Initially just 40 feet wide and a mere 4 feet deep in many places, it now spans up to 140 feet in some places, with a draft of up to 14 feet. The Canal, still fully operational, looks to celebrate its bicentennial in 2025.
How Did the Erie Canal Come to Be Constructed?
Before the explosive growth of the American railroads in the middle of the 19th century, waterways were the most efficient and cost-effective way to transport both goods and people. There were, however, no waterways to take goods west of the Appalachian Mountains, and there were only five passes through those mountains where a mule train or covered wagon could travel. As a consequence, it typically took weeks for passengers and merchandise to travel from New York to settlements in Cleveland, Detroit and other points west.
The fertile Ohio Valley produced an almost limitless supply of grain, but very little of it went to the Midwest because of both the cost and the likelihood of spoilage on the mule trains. As a consequence, many farmers sold their grains for whiskey, leading to other problems. Politicians in New York realized that, if they could find a cost-effective way to get the grains west of the Appalachians, it would be an economic bonanza for their farmers. The unique topography of the Mohawk and Hudson River Valleys offered the most viable location for a canal, one that could provide a virtually non-stop water passage from New York City to Lake Erie and Lake Ontario.
New Yorker Jesse Hawley, a flour merchant, first approached government officials with the idea of the Erie Canal. Interestingly, Hawley was more interested in shipping grain from the western plains in New York state to the Eastern seaboard. He partnered with Joseph Ellicott, who owned substantial tracts of land in western New York, and began lobbying federal legislators to construct the canal.
Legislators initially balked, primarily because the change in elevation from the Hudson River to Lake Erie—some 600 feet—would require the construction of approximately 50 locks. President Thomas Jefferson nixed the idea, referring to it as “little short of madness.”
Undeterred, Hawley went to New York Governor DeWitt Clinton, who embraced the idea and secured $7 million from the state to build the canal. Construction began in 1817 and was completed in 1825. When finished, “Clinton’s Big Ditch” had 83 locks (57 are still in operation) and ascended approximately 565 feet from the Hudson River to Lake Erie.
The Erie Canal had a dramatic economic impact, peaking in 1855, when more than 33,000 commercial shipments were made. The canal continued to provide transport for goods until 1902, when the railroads made water transport commercially unviable. Today, the canal is used almost exclusively for recreational purposes.
