Oct. 26, 1825: After two years of shoveling and $7 million, the Erie Canal opens, connecting Lake Erie to the Hudson River. The 425-mile waterway spurs growth in the upper Midwest and New York City, which serves as the collection and shipping point for products — especially John D. Rockefeller’s crude oil from Pennsylvania and kerosene from Cleveland. The canal weathers ruthless competition from Jay Gould’s railroads and remains commercially viable into the first half of the 20th century — today most of the canal has been retired and turned into tourist traps. However, if the canal were built today, its price tag would likely far exceed its inflation adjusted $117.5 million figure, making it an exceptional bargain compared with recent U.S. engineering feats like Boston's $15 billion Big Dig, which only sunk about 5 miles of highway underground over 15 years of construction. —Jeff Kanige
See Whitford's History of U.S. Canals courtesy of the University of Rochester
See entry from Wikipedia
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