The Myth-Busting Economist by Larry Malone
Low Bridge, Ev’rybody Down…
When I started writing this column, my objective was to bust myths about the economy. In a world fraught with disinformation and lies, it’s important to set the record straight. As was the case in my previous column that celebrated small businesses and their owners, I’ll detour in this one to commend an important American bicentennial that arrives in a few weeks.
The Erie Canal was completed on October 26, 1825. It was 363 miles long and connected the Hudson River to Lake Erie. Just 4 feet deep and 40 feet wide, it opened the American West to migration and trade and was the first step in making New York “The Empire State.”
To get from Albany to Buffalo, the original canal needed 83 locks to lift early pack boats 565 feet in total elevation. Each lock was 90 feet long and 12 feet wide. Five of those locks were in Lockport, New York, where 60 feet of elevation had to be conquered to continue the path westward. The second largest hurdle was closer to our region, in Little Falls, where four locks were needed to surmount a 40 feet rise in elevation.
On average, it took nine days in 1825 to make the journey from Albany to Buffalo, with boats pulled by horses or mules attached to heavy ropes. The original Erie Canal was not all romance though, as tow animals were urged forward by switch sticks wielded by young, often orphaned, children. When the canal froze, the orphans wintered over in warehouse lofts in big towns along the route, in living conditions that matched what Charles Dickens was writing about in England.
The original canal has largely vanished after two upgrades to handle larger boats. The first began in 1835 and was completed in 1862. The width almost doubled to 70 feet and the depth was increased to 7 feet. The second enlargement, from 1905 to 1918, created the working canal that exists today—the Barge Canal. That upgrade harnessed large parts of the Mohawk and Genesee rivers, with a minimal width of 120 feet and depth of 12 feet. Today’s “Erie Canal” has just 34 locks.
Given our proximity to the canal, there are plenty of opportunities nearby to soak up some of the history of our early American Republic. Schoharie Crossing offers a state park where you can see the ruins of an impressive aqueduct that carried pack boats across the Schoharie Creek. This massive structure was completed in 1841 and is considered a 19th-century American engineering marvel. You can also see the path and some of the stonework of the original Erie Canal on the opposite side of the creek.
Little Falls offers remnants of some of the original locks and contemporary Lock 17, which climbs more than four stories through solid rock. Its Moss Island location is accessible to the public, and you can also watch climbers conquering boulders and walls as boats move through the lock.
The 45,000 members of the Facebook Group “Historic Erie Canal” are passionate about uncovering the path of the original canal, and they post about where to find its remains. Between Utica and Amsterdam, especially on a leisurely drive along Route 5, it’s possible to spot the route of the early canal. The towpath is overgrown but evident as you pass through and between Fort Plain, Ilion, and Frankfort. The right of way established by the canal is often the present day right of way for powerlines and parts of the roadway. For the ambitious cyclist, New York State has constructed an easily navigated bicycle path alongside parts of all three canal routes.
The Erie Canal changed the political and social fabric of a young American nation, not unlike the times we find ourselves in today. Historian Carol Sheriff explores many of those cultural themes in her award-winning book “The Artificial River: The Erie Canal and the Paradox of Progress, 1817-1862,” Sheriff renders a rich account of how the canal changed American life between the War of 1812 and the Civil War. The progress the canal brought also divided farmlands, inconvenienced those who lived alongside it, and gave new meaning to ownership and trespassing.
The Erie Canal led to personal transformations and new perceptions across all ranks of American society, redefining the meaning of work as well as creating new forms of leisure and diversion. Also similar to our current times, the State of New York stepped in to build the canal when the federal government backed away. That state leadership launched the growth of such towns as Utica, Syracuse, and Rochester, making them hubs of global commerce and innovation through World War II. And all the while the spoils and benefits were shared by both commoners and the rich.
So join me this fall and venture north to embrace the Bicentennial of the Erie Canal!
Larry Malone is professor emeritus of economics at Hartwick College.
