June 26, 2023 – THEME WEEK DAY 1

The 4th of July is next week, so I thought we’d do a theme week on 5 Other Things that Happened on the 4th of July! On July 4, 1817 construction of the Erie Canal began in Rome, NY! A canal to connect the Hudson River to the Great Lakes had been proposed in the 1780s, but a formal survey wasn’t conducted until 1808 and the state legislature authorized construction in 1817. The men who planned and oversaw the canal’s construction were complete novices…because there were no civil engineers at the time! James Geddes and Benjamin Wright, the men who laid out the route, were actually judges whose only experience was in selling boundary disputes. Most of the designers on the project had no formal training, relying instead on practical experience and studying examples of European canals.
It took around 2 years for the first 15 miles of canal, from Rome to Utica, to open. Because there was no machinery, tasks like felling trees through the virgin forest and moving excavated soil, all had to be done by hand. They also had trouble finding labor, but increased immigration helped fill that need. Irish, German, and British workers made up to $1 a day shoveling dirt and rocks by hand and teams of animals pulled scrapers to move larger material. They were also able to devise methods to uproot trees, pull out stumps, and pour hydraulic concrete underwater.
It took 8 years to complete the Erie Canal, at a total length of 353 miles and a cost of just over $7 million. It was an immediate success, with tolls on freight exceeding the construction debt in its first year. It decreased the cost to ship goods between the Midwest and Northeast, lowering food costs in Eastern cities. By 1853, the canal carried 62% of all U.S. trade. It was the first navigable waterway connecting the Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean. It also launched America’s first boomtown…Rochester! Our city was home to the biggest flour mills in the area, and the canal enabled us to easily ship these products. This resulted in an increase in population and wealth – the city doubled its population in just 10 years.  Learn more here.