Joined Jul 2011
11,340 Posts | 2,849+
It was build at the cost of $7 million, a 350 mile long, 40 feet wide, 4 feet deep ditch. It was pushed by Governor Dewitt ........ There is ......., IA in Dewitt County and a Dewitt, IA in ....... County. The canal made the midwest. The key thing was they could ship grain from the Great Lakes. It would be loaded on ships in Albany and maybe different ships in NYC. Most of it was exported to Europe. The US is an agricultural exporter now, but a huge exporter then. Also, famously of cotton from the deep south, mostly through New Orleans. The canal made NYC and Chicago, neither on the canal. Before the Canal, NYC was just a comparable port to Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Boston. Lots of upstate NYC cities and towns, which are mostly now depressed. 30 ton barges, a little less capacity than 18-wheelers, were towed by teams of horses of mules. Shipped west were mostly manufatured goods from the northeast of Europe. The barges may not have been full going west. It was sort of part of trade between the midwest and Europe.
It was the 2nd longest canal in the world to the Great Canal of China, which is from the 7th century. Canals were really big for transporting freight. Other states tried copying the Erie Canal. Once the railroads came in, passengers usually took trains, which were much faster. The canal was made deeper around 1900. The barges were also powered by fuel rather than animal power. Eventually, rail transportation became more efficient. The Erie Canal stopped being used about 1970.
It was the 2nd longest canal in the world to the Great Canal of China, which is from the 7th century. Canals were really big for transporting freight. Other states tried copying the Erie Canal. Once the railroads came in, passengers usually took trains, which were much faster. The canal was made deeper around 1900. The barges were also powered by fuel rather than animal power. Eventually, rail transportation became more efficient. The Erie Canal stopped being used about 1970.
