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Survey of Historic Sites and Buildings

	ERIE CANAL (Remains) New York
Montgomery County, remains in and around the town of Fort Hunter, 6 miles west of Amsterdam. New York State Canals

Ownership and Administration. Various.

Significance. The Erie Canal, a manmade waterway extending from Buffalo, N.Y., on Lake Erie, to Albany, N.Y., on the Hudson River, and linking the Atlantic Ocean with the Great Lakes, was a significant achievement of 19th-century engineering. Uniting the East and the old Northwest, it also helped break the alliance between the South and the old Northwest that had been strengthened by the latter's use of New Orleans as a port and helped to create a new alinement of States—an alinement represented in the Federal and Confederate States of the Civil War. Transporting barges loaded with produce eastward from the old Northwest and carrying streams of emigrants and goods westward, the canal stimulated settlement and commerce between the Great Lakes and the Ohio River, and resulted in the founding of numerous towns. Providing a convenient route for European immigrants to move west and a cheap means of sending farm produce directly to the East instead of down the Mississippi River to New Orleans, it made New York the dominant coastal city. The successful completion of the canal introduced an era of canal fever in every section of the country—a fever that abated only with the development of the railroads.

Because of De Witt Clinton's efforts, in 1808 the New York Legislature authorized a survey for a canal between the Hudson River and Lake Erie. The resultant report led the legislature in 1810 to appoint a commission to consider the project further. In 1811 it recommended the waterway as advantageous, but the War of 1812 delayed further progress. After a second commission, which met in 1816-17, reported favorably on the canal, in April 1817 the legislature authorized construction of the ambitious project—only four other short artificial waterways existing in the country at the time. The canal was to be built in three sections: a western section from Lake Erie to the Seneca River, a middle section from the Seneca River to Rome, and an eastern section from Rome to Albany. In July 1817 State officials broke ground at Rome, and by October 1819 barges were using the eastern section. Although by 1821 both the eastern and central sections were operating successfully, opponents of the canal fought to prevent its completion. Their major antagonist was De Witt Clinton, Governor of New York, who had originally promoted the canal and had served on both canal commissions. Because he crushed the attacks and pushed through legislation authorizing the continuation of the canal, it was dubbed "Clinton's Big Ditch" or "Clinton's Folly." In October 1825 laborers completed the western, and final, section.

The canal—40 feet wide at the top, 28 feet wide at the bottom, and 4 feet deep—stretched across 363 miles and had 88 locks. Except for about 10 miles it formed a completely artificial waterway. It cost $8 million to build, but nominal tolls paid for it within a decade. In 1881 they were finally abolished. Between 1835 and 1862 the State enlarged the canal and in 1897-98 attempted to deepen it. The New York State Barge Canal, constructed during the years 1903-18, replaced the Erie, but follows along some portions of it.

One of the most impressive remains of the improved Erie Canal of 1841 is Schoharie Aqueduct. This aqueduct eliminated the necessity of towing canalboats across Schoharie Creek.

Present Appearance. Each of the Erie Canal's three eras of development—"Clinton's Big Ditch," the Improved Erie, and the New York State Barge Canal—is well illustrated by canal features in and around Fort Hunter. They are bounded on the west by Schoharie Creek and on the north by the Mohawk River. The original canal extends across the town from east to west, and in its dry bed are the only two extant locks of the first canal, both constructed in 1820. In Fort Hunter the bed of the improved canal of 1841 parallels the first channel and then intersects the original bed a short distance east of town. Near the intersection the improved canal passes through the well-preserved Empire Lock of 1841. Still farther east are the Yankee Hill Lock and the Lock Grocery building. West of town, where the improved canal crossed Schoharie Creek, is the Schoharie Aqueduct. Here, before the aqueduct was built in 1841, canal boats were towed across the creek. On the Mohawk River, just north of Fort Hunter, is modern Lock 12 of the New York State Barge Canal, a successor to the two earlier routes.

All of the canal remains are in excellent condition and within walking distance of one another. No special effort is now made to preserve the canal remains or interpret them to visitors, but State authorities and various private groups are considering preservation and restoration of the remains and the creation of a New York State Canal Museum at Fort Hunter.

NHL Designation: 10/09/60