The Erie Canal is a historic canal in upstate New York that runs east–west between the Hudson River and Lake Erie. Completed in 1825, the canal was the first navigable waterway connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes, vastly reducing the costs of transporting people and goods across the Appalachians. In effect, the canal accelerated the settlement of the Great Lakes region, the westward expansion of the United States, and the economic ascendancy of New York State. It has been called "The Nation's First Superhighway."
Cohoes is an incorporated city located in the northeast corner of Albany County in the U.S. state of New York. It is called the "Spindle City" because of the importance of textile manufacturing to its growth in the 19th century. The city's factories processed cotton from the Deep South.
Waterford is a village in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 1,990 at the 2010 census. The name derives from the ford between the mainland and Peebles Island.
Waterford is a town in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 8,423 at the 2010 census. The name of the town is derived from its principal village, also called Waterford. The town is located in the southeast corner of Saratoga County and north-northwest of Troy at the junction of the Erie Canal and the Hudson River.
The Welland Canal is a ship canal in Ontario, Canada, and part of the St. Lawrence Seaway and Great Lakes Waterway. The canal traverses the Niagara Peninsula between Port Weller on Lake Ontario, and Port Colborne on Lake Erie, and was erected because the Niagara River—the only natural waterway connecting the lakes—was unnavigable due to Niagara Falls. The Welland Canal enables ships to ascend and descend the Niagara Escarpment, and has followed four different routes since it opened.
The Mohawk River is a 149-mile-long (240 km) river in the U.S. state of New York. It is the largest tributary of the Hudson River. The Mohawk flows into the Hudson in Cohoes, New York, a few miles north of the state capital of Albany. The river is named for the Mohawk Nation of the Iroquois Confederacy. A major waterway, in the early 19th century, the river's east-west valley provided the setting and water for development of the Erie Canal, as a key to developing New York. The largest tributary, the Schoharie Creek, accounts for over one quarter (26.83%) of the Mohawk River's watershed. Another main tributary is the West Canada Creek, which makes up for 16.33% of the Mohawk's watershed.
The New York State Canal System is a successor to the Erie Canal and other canals within New York. Currently, the 525-mile (845 km) system is composed of the Erie Canal, the Oswego Canal, the Cayuga–Seneca Canal, and the Champlain Canal. In 2014 the system was listed as a national historic district on the National Register of Historic Places in its entirety, and in 2016 it was designated a National Historic Landmark.
The Cayuga–Seneca Canal is a canal in New York, United States. It is now part of the New York State Canal System.
The Oswego Canal is a canal in the New York State Canal System located in New York, United States. Opened in 1828, it is 23.7 miles (38.1 km) in length, and connects the Erie Canal at Three Rivers to Lake Ontario at Oswego. The canal has a depth of 14 ft (4.3 m), with seven locks spanning the 118 ft (36 m) change in elevation.
The Champlain Canal is a 60-mile (97 km) canal in New York that connects the Hudson River to the south end of Lake Champlain. It was simultaneously constructed with the Erie Canal for use by commercial vessels, fully opening in 1823. Today, it is mostly used by recreational boaters as part of the New York State Canal System and Lakes to Locks Passage.
The Lehigh Canal is a navigable canal that begins at the mouth of Nesquehoning Creek on the Lehigh River in the Lehigh Valley and Northeastern regions of Pennsylvania. It was built in two sections over a span of 20 years beginning in 1818. The lower section spanned the distance between Easton and present-day Jim Thorpe. In Easton, the canal met the Delaware and Morris Canals, which allowed anthracite coal and other goods to be transported further up the U.S. East Coast. At its height, the Lehigh Canal was 72 miles (116 km) long.
Schoharie Crossing State Historic Site, also known as Erie Canal National Historic Landmark, is a historic district that includes the ruins of the Erie Canal aqueduct over Schoharie Creek, and a 3.5-mile (5.6 km) long part of the Erie Canal, in the towns of Glen and Florida within Montgomery County, New York. It was the first part of the old canal to be designated a National Historic Landmark, prior to the designation of the entire New York State Barge Canal as an NHL in 2017.
The American Lakes to Locks Passage and the corresponding Canadian Route du Richelieu is a scenic byway in northeastern New York in the United States and in southern Quebec in Canada. The byway unifies the interconnected waterway of the upper Hudson River, Champlain Canal, Lake George, and Lake Champlain; this waterway is the core of North America's first "super-highway" between upstate New York and the Canadian province of Quebec. The initiatives of the Lakes to Locks Passage aim to unify the byway corridor as a single destination. The US portion of the passage is a New York State Scenic Byway, a National Scenic Byway, and an All-American Road. The Canadian portion is a tourist route by the Quebec Ministry of Tourism.
The Mohawk Towpath Scenic Byway is a National Scenic Byway in the Capital District region of New York in the United States. It extends from Schenectady to Waterford by way of a series of local, county, and state highways along the Mohawk River and the Erie Canal. The byway is intended to showcase the history of the waterway, from Native American times through the creation of the Erie Canal and the role the waterside communities played in the Industrial Revolution and the westward expansion of the United States. At its east end, the byway connects to the Lakes to Locks Passage, an All-American Road.
Lock 18 of the Enlarged Erie Canal is located off North Mohawk Street in Cohoes, New York, United States. It is made of stone blocks 3 by 2 by 1.5 feet in size, roughly 150 feet (46 m) in length, laid in a random ashlar pattern. The lock's wooden gates are no longer extant.
Moss Island is an island in Little Falls, New York, located between the Mohawk River and the New York State Barge Canal. It is composed of an igneous intrusion of syenite, and became an island when canal locks were built so boats could avoid the 40-foot (12 m) falls. It is known for its large 40–50-foot (12–15 m) deep potholes as well as being popular with local rock climbers. It was declared a National Natural Landmark in 1976. Efforts by the local community to turn Moss Island into a New York State Park were begun in 2008.
Day Peckinpaugh is a historic canal motorship berthed at the Matton Shipyard on Peebles Island, Cohoes in Albany County, New York, United States.
Van Schaick Island is an island in the city of Cohoes, New York. Van Schaick is a part of the delta of the Mohawk River at its mouth with the Hudson River. The island has been referred to by numerous names including Quehemesicos, Long, Anthony's, Isle of Cohoes, and Cohoes Island. The island was home to US Revolutionary War fortifications in the 18th century, and to an important shipyard in the 20th century. The shipyard and the extreme northern end of the island is part of the Peebles Island State Park, and the only vehicular entrance to the state park is on the island.
The Sprouts of the Mohawk River are the multiple channels of the Mohawk River as it flows into the Hudson River creating a delta in the US state of New York. Most of the sprouts lie within Albany County, with the northern ones in Saratoga County, and the sprouts enter the Hudson at the boundary with Rensselaer County. The islands formed by the sprouts are, from north to south–Peebles Island, Polrump Island, Bock Island, Goat Island, Second Island, Van Schaick Island, Simmons Island. and formerly Green Island. The sprout separating Green Island from the rest of Albany County was filled in with the creation of Interstate 787 and NY Route 787.
