History of the Erie Canal: the time line….followed by some fun stuff
1699 French Engineer Vauban suggests canal between Lakes Erie and Ontario
1724 - 1786 Proposals and surveys suggesting the possibilities for waterways connecting the Great Lakes with the Hudson - Now remember…we win independence until 1776!
1786 An act for improving the navigation of the Mohawk river, Wood creek, and the Onondaga river, with a view to opening an inland navigation to Oswego and for extending the same, if practicable, to Lake Erie. Bill defeated.
1792 Private firm builds locks to bypass Little Falls. First locks built in U.S.
1812 – War of 1812 with British
1816 February 16, Memorial of the Citizens of New York, in Favour of a Canal Navigation between the Great Western Lakes and the Tide-waters of the Hudson. Drafted by De Witt Clinton and signed by many citizens, it made a deep impression on the Legislature.
Over 100 years after Vauban’s original suggestion, on April 17, NY Legislature passes a canal law. De Witt Clinton's Canal Visit to Buffalo in 1816
1817 July 4, Canal construction began at Rome, NY.
1818 23 October, middle section of canal opened from Utica to Rome, 96 miles. 24 November, Champlain Canal opened.
1822 2 July, river boats began using canal section from Genesee river to Pittsford, with overland connection for several miles during Irondequoit valley embankment completed in October. October, 180 miles of canal open from Rochester to Little Falls.
1823 October 1, eastern section of Canal completed, continuous navigation possible from Genesee River to Albany and Lake Champlain. October 6, 802 foot stone aqueduct over Genesee River opened in Rochester.
1824 April, Brockport - Rochester section opened.
1825 October 26, first passage through canal from Lake Erie to New York City
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- 363 miles in length, 40 feet wide, 4 feet deep, max displacement 75 tons
- 77 locks, 90 feet by 15 feet
- Total lockage 655 feet
Now for the fun stuff DeWitt Clinton had great vision for this canal, and politics seemed to play a great role in its completion. He was elected Governor of New York, so that helped a great deal.
A judge, Benjamin Wright, was appointed chief engineer, and a lawyer, James Geddes, was named assistant chief engineer. Both were accomplished surveyors, but truly knew nothing of the scope of the project they undertook. By the end of the canal’s completion, they were the country’s two top hydraulic engineers. In turn, they appointed a group of enthusiastic young men, among them, was Canvass White, who went to Europe to study canal design. When he came back, he found Clinton in a quandary of whether to use wood or stone for the lock walls. To use stone, which didn’t need replacing every few years, they needed hydraulic cement (a cement much more durable than common mortar), but it was available only in Europe and transporting it from there would involve great cost. White not only was White able to introduce the latest knowledge to European lock building to the canal builders, but he located a source of the volcanic rock needed for the hydraulic cement within New York State. Then there is the matter of who actually built the canal….the area of Upstate New York was sparsely settled in the early 1800’s, and there was no stage service west of the Mohawk Valley…the Mohawk runs just west of Albany. But the Irish were flocking to America during those years, and at one point it is estimated that 3000 of them were hired on in New York City and transported up to work on the canal. They were called “blogtrotters”. To quote from Canals of America by Harry Drago…”As they fought their way through the mosquito and malaria infested Montezuma marshes west of Syracuse, toiling in waist deep muck and water, wearing only a shirt and slouch cap to shield them from the relentless sun, they wrote a page of human endeavor that has seldom been equaled. And for this they were rewarded with the princely wage of $ 8.00 a month – or to be more exact, for twenty eight rainless days of work – and the privilege of sleeping on the floor of a $15.00 shack along with a dozen others of their kind, their food the cheapest and coarsest the contractor could provide. As a bonus, a tot of whiskey was doled out to them every two hours – to keep them going.”.( A tot is probably just over an ounce…..but a tot glass holds about 5 ounces…so your guess as to how much it was is as good as mine.) The cost of the canal was over $7,300,000 by the time of it’s completion in 1825. This was a vast sum for those times, and the canal was often referred to as “Clinton’s Foley”.Politics what they are, Clinton was ousted from the governorship of New York when people thought the canal was going to be a failure, then he was re-elected when things turned around…..and turn around they did….the first year, revenue from tolls were only $30,000. But within three years, the tolls increased to $750,000 per year. Cargo and passengers clamored for spots on the barges, and soon, canal traffic was approved during all 24 hours. For the official opening, Clinton left Albany and boarded a flotilla bound for Buffalo….which was at that time a thriving city of 500. It took 10n days for that trip…amid much celebration and speechmaking. They stayed up almost all night in Buffalo….and the next day, October 16th, Clinton’s flagship, the SENECA CHIEF, began its journey to salt water, and the trip began with a volley of musket fire from the Black Rock brigade and music from the militia band. Down the canal, a cannon boomed, and as it’s sound died away, another cannon sounded…..and every eight or ten miles…..a cannon would relay the news that the canal was open…..this continued down the entire length of the canal, down the Hudson River and New York City heard the news that the canal was officially open 80 minutes after the first cannon had sounded. New York then sent back the news that they had received the tidings via the same round of cannon fire, back to Clinton’s barges. Several of the cannons had been on Commodore Perry’s former ships and some had been from British vessels he had captured during the War of 1812 on Lake Erie. Once Clinton reached New York City, on November 4th, there followed three days of celebration. They then journeyed down to Sandy Hook, N.J., where two small cedar kegs were produced, which had been painted patriotically and filled with Lake Erie water. These were ceremoniously emptied into the Atlantic for the “Wedding of the Waters”.Dr. Sam Mitchell, a leading American geographer, then emptied dozens of vials of water from the world’s great rivers into the Atlantic, symbolic of further navigable communication. The New York City festivities were attended by more than 30,000 out of towners….. There is so much more….but these were some of the highlights I found special. Hope you enjoyed!
Our stop last night at Brewerton was very nice....the marina had a courtesy car, which enabled us to find a good dinner and buy more beer.... Geff is enjoying Corona Lite with limes...Our goal for tonight is Lyons, NY....a roughly 60 nautical mile trip, with five locks and the first of all those "Low bridge, everybody down" bridges.....here is the new map for today.... Lyons is located near lock E28A.....our first lock was only a 7 foot change in elevation, and by the way, the last three locks, inluding our morning locks....we have been going from high water to low water.....and it is a lot less work to manage the boat when they let water out of the lock as opposed to riding it out when they let water in to raise us up....
