ERIE CANAL 2025

The Erie Canal is celebrating its 200th birthday 🎂 in 2025 - its Bicentennial!

• WHEN IT WAS CONSTRUCTED: 1817 TO 1825
• WHEN IT OPENED: October 26, 1825
• ASCE NATIONAL HISTORIC CIVIL ENGINEERING LANDMARK: known as the world's most significant and influential canal system in North America
• WHY IS IT IMPORTANT: 1) facilitate a dependable trade route to connect the country's midwest to the eastern seaboard, and 2) avoid dependence on Canadian water routes which at the time was still part of the British empire
• MOST SIGNIFICANT ENGINEERING CHALLENGE: about 571 feet elevation change - can't just dig a path and hope. Need locks to control levels and provide for controlled transportation. 
• HUGE SYSTEM: 57 locks, 16 lift bridges (but Fairport has the most interesting bridge... IYKYK)
• FAVORITE RESTAURANT ALONG THE CANAL: Aladdin's Natural Eatery. Great Mediterranean food, but even a better location. Treat yourself and a loved one to a fabulous 👌 experience especially on those 70 degree sunny days at Schoen Place in Pittsford NY. 
• BONUS: Bushnell's Basin gymnosophy past. Kind of a bottleneck on the canal led to this sinful pit stop.

I hope you enjoy this collection of resources on the Erie Canal so we can all proudly wish the Erie Canal a Happy 200th Birthday!

https://www.canals.ny.gov/history/history.html is a great source of Erie Canal history. Below is a good timeline of the construction and impact of the canal as it intersects with American 🇺🇲 history.

July 4, 1776 - the Declaration of Independence was issued and adopted by the Continental Congress. Our 13 American colonies severed their political connections to Great Britain 🇬🇧 .

1775 to 1783 - American Revolutionary War. The insurrection carried out by 13 of Great Britain's North American colonies. 

September 17, 1787 - US Constitution signed at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 🔔 . It remains the world's longest surviving written charter of government. 

1795 - Merchant from downstate Daniel Penfield began purchasing land out west and in this area, Township 13 Range IV.

1803 to 1893 - America's Westward Expansion period. President Thomas Jefferson led Louisiana Purchase (doubling the size of the US). Missouri Compromise (1820). Mexican-American War. Bleeding Kansas.

March 30, 1810 - the NYS Legislature formally split the area to two towns Town of Boyle and the Town of Penfield. And so, Penfield can claim its fame as the first 🏆 of the seven east-side towns in the county to be established.

April 15, 1817 - New York State Legislature finally approved construction of the Erie Canal, which Jesse Hawley had written so compellingly about just a decade earlier.  The bill authorized $7 million for construction of the 363-mile long waterway, which was to be 40 feet wide and four feet deep.  Construction would begin on July 4th, in Rome, NY and would take eight 8️⃣ years.  Also in 1817, Clinton would leverage his success championing the Canal’s construction into the Governor’s office, his election culminating his meteoric political rise over the years. 

The completion of the Erie Canal spurred the first great westward movement of American settlers, gave access to the rich land and resources west of the Appalachians and made New York the preeminent commercial city in the United States. 

1825 - Governor Dewitt Clinton officially opened the Erie Canal as he sailed the packet boat Seneca Chief along the Canal from Buffalo to Albany.  After traveling from the mouth of the Erie to New York City, he emptied two casks of water from Lake Erie into the Atlantic Ocean, celebrating the first connection of waters from East to West in the ceremonial "Wedding 👰 of the Waters".

NEW YORK CITY - the nation's premier commerce 💰 center and busiest port. 

The canal's completion dramatically boosted New York City's growth, establishing it as the nation's premier commerce center and busiest port by mid-19th century. It positioned the city as the United States' primary gateway, fueling an economic boom and quadrupling its population to half a million by 1850, with significant immigrant contributions. The Erie Canal was instrumental in New York City's rise as a dominant economic force.

THANK YOU ERIE CANAL!

Neeraj Shah is the owner the two legally separate, but complimentary businesses, Shah CPA Firm, PLLC and Shah Law Firm, PLLC. Over the years, he has earned several professional designations, including MBA, CPA and attorney and counselor at law. However, you talk to him and you will soon find out there is one thing that he is most proud of - his hometown, the Town of Penfield.