THE BUILDING OF THE ERIE CANAL (1817 – 1825)

The history of the Erie Canal is a riveting story of American ingenuity. A great project that Thomas Jefferson judged to be “a little short of madness,” and that others compared with going to the moon, soon turned into one of the most successful and influential public investments in American history. In the first quarter-century of the 1800s the leaders of our fledging nation had quickly recognized that the Appalachian mountain range was a formidable obstacle to uniting the Atlantic states with the vast lands of the west. A pathway for commerce as well as travel was critical to the security and expansion of the American Revolution’s achievement.