Historic New York
Construction of the Erie Canal was hailed as the greatest engineering accomplishment to that time. Under the leadership of Governor De Witt Clinton, construction began July 4, 1817. With little technical knowledge, thousands of workers surveyed, blasted and dug a 363-mile canal across the state. They hewed through solid rock and dug in marshes; they erected aqueducts to carry the canal over rivers and valleys; and they built 83 locks to take the canal over changes in ground level. When completed in October, 1825, the Erie connected Albany and Buffalo and became the main route between the Atlantic Ocean and the Great Lakes. Passenger and freight barges crowded the canal. Western New York flourished with new, cheap transportation. The Erie Canal also hastened development of the Mid-West. Success of the Erie stimulated enlargement of the original canal in the 1840's and construction of additional canals. More than 500 miles of canals connected the Erie to other sections of New York State. After the 1870's, canal transportation declined and many canals closed. The Erie was modernized in 1918 as part of the State Barge Canal System consisting of the Erie, Champlain, Oswego and Cayuga-Seneca Canals.| HM Number | HM1KP5 |
|---|---|
| Series | This marker is part of the Erie Canal series, and the New York: Historic New York series. |
| Tags | |
| Year Placed | 1961 |
| Placed By | New York State Education Department, New York State Department of Public Works |
| Marker Condition | No reports yet |
| Date Added | Saturday, May 23rd, 2015 at 10:03pm PDT -07:00 |
| UTM (WGS84 Datum) | 18T E 371626 N 4766813 |
|---|---|
| Decimal Degrees | 43.04316667, -76.57606667 |
| Degrees and Decimal Minutes | N 43° 2.59', W 76° 34.564' |
| Degrees, Minutes and Seconds | 43° 2' 35.4" N, 76° 34' 33.84" W |
| Driving Directions | Google Maps |
| Area Code(s) | 315 |
| Which side of the road? | Marker is on the right when traveling East |
| Closest Postal Address | At or near Canalway Trail- Erie Section (Camillus to Port Byron), Weedsport NY 13166, US |
| Alternative Maps | Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap |
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