201 years ago today, the Erie Canal opened a passageway from New York to the Great Lakes. The canal was built to create a navigable water route from the Atlantic Ocean to the Midwestern US and took 8 years to construct the 36 locks which overcame a total elevation differential of about 565 feet (172 m). At a time when there were only pack animals and no steamships or railways, water became a cost-effective shipping method that changed the Great Lakes Region. READ more... (1825)
