Erie Canal

Takes young readers on a canoe trip along one of America's greatest waterways, from its terminus in Buffalo on Lake Erie to Albany, using full-color and historical photographs and text to explore the canal's technological and historical significance.

This is part of the Erie Canal Curriculum Kit. We have 2 copies of this book inside of this kit.

When De Witt Clinton, a young politician, first dreams of building a canal to connect the Hudson River with the Great Lakes, folks don't believe such a thing can be done. But eight long years after the first shovelful of earth is dug, Clinton realizes his vision at last. The longest uninterrupted canal in history has been built, and it is now possible to travel by water from the American prairie all the way to Europe!

The building of the Erie Canal was the engineering marvel that unleashed the growth of the young nation that was the United States. Spearheaded by the vision of Gov. Dewitt Clinton, New York State built the waterway that opened the West to settlement and made New York City the center of finance and commerce. Opened in 1825, the canal proved so commercially viable that construction of an enlarged Erie Canal began just eleven years later. The success of the canal spawned the growth of cities, towns, businesses, and industries along its route in upstate New York.