Erie Canal
| Region | Type | Maps & Charts (if available, no international) |
|---|---|---|
| North America, New England | Canal | Erie Canal |
Begun in 1817; finished in 1825; financed by NY State; consisted of 83 locks and 18 aqueducts to manage an elevation differential of 675'.
From Moby-Dick , Ch. 54; "For three hundred and sixty miles, through the entire breath of the state of New York; through numerous populous cities and most thriving villages; through long, dismal, uninhabited swamps, and affluent, cultivated fields, unrivalled for fertility; by billiard-room and bar-room; through the holy-of-hilies of great forests; on Roman arches over Indian rivers; through sun and shaded; by happy hearts or broken; through all the wilds contrasting scenery of those noble Mohawk counties; and especially, by rows of snow-white chapels, whose spires stand almost like milestones, flows one continual stream of venetianly corrupt and often lawless life."
Sources
Robert A. McCaughey Birth of Empire; De Witt Clinton and the American Experience, 1769-1828 Artificial River; The Erie Canal and the Paradox of Progress, 1817-1862Related People
DeWitt ClintonJames Geddes
Compiler
Peter Richards