Erie+Canal

Erie Canal
The Erie Canal was the first international waterway in the United States. The creator was DeWitt Clinton. He went to Columbia College. After graduating, Clinton studied law. He became governor of New York. Clinton had a dream of linking Lake Erie to the Hudson River. That way it would be easier to ship goods from east to west. The canal began on Lake Erie. It crossed New York, Buffalo, to Troy and Albany on the Hudson River. It was completed in 1825. The canal joined the Great Lake system with the Atlantic Ocean. It cut freight rates between Buffalo to New York City more than 90%. The building of the canal was paid for by the state of New York. It cost over $7,143,789. The original canal was 363 miles long. It was 28 feet wide and 4 feet deep. It also had 83 locks. The canal was enlarged several times between 1835-1862. The development of rail roads made it less important in 1865. In 1903, New York voted to make the canal part of a great modern waterway. It was connected to three smaller canals in New York. It took eight years to build the Erie Canal.