Vastly different, yet still very similar, the Erie Canal and the American railroads left their own marks on history. The Erie Canal traces its beginning to 1807 and the writings of Jesse Hawley, who wrote an early description of a canal which would join the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean. The railroads can trace their roots to 1808, in England, when Richard Trevithick utilized a steam locomotive that ran on a circular track. Two distinct beginnings, and very similar endings. Both were hugely successful in their own era, and both were made obsolescent by the desire for increased speed in transportation. Both modes of travel were responsible for opening up our nation for settlement.
It was a close race for a while, and the canal took an early lead, but the race goes to the swiftest, and the canal yielded to the pressure of the railroads. The Erie Canal opened its full route in 1825, while the railroads were still experimenting with design and function. The first railroad in America, the “Baltimore and Ohio,” opened a 13-mile route in 1830. On August 9, 1831, the “Mohawk and Hudson” opened a short railroad line between Albany and Schenectady that would parallel a section of the Erie Canal. It took the name, “Dewitt Clinton,” for their locomotive. The railroad was hugely popular with passengers, but struggled to gain a foothold moving freight. The “Mohawk and Hudson” returned a $9,000 profit in its first four months of operation, exclusively as a passenger service. By 1842, a total of six separate railroad lines had joined together to provide service from Albany to Buffalo, along the course of the Erie Canal. Our own local entries were the “Attica and Buffalo” line, as well as the “Tonawanda Railroad.”
By 1851, within 21 years time, the network of railroads had been established from New York City to Buffalo. During that period of time, the trains had advanced from primitive to very powerful devices. They were able to pull large loads of freight and could carry passengers safely and quickly. The 10 individual railroads between New York City and Buffalo were merged into one powerful rail line, the “New York Central,” in 1853. By 1860, there were 30,626 miles of railroads in America.
The railroads had an immediate effect on passenger travel on the Erie Canal. By the 1850s, people preferred the comfort and speed of the railroads to the problems associated with packet boat travel on the canal. The railroads were more expensive, but not extremely. The rail fare from Buffalo to Albany in 1850 was $10. The corresponding fare by packet boat on the Erie Canal was $6.50 including meals for the five-day sojourn. There really was no longer any contest, the packet boat passenger had become a novelty. So much so, that the packet boats went out of business by 1860. (It’s a sad commentary that not one original Erie Canal packet boat remains in existence today!)
To be continued…
Doug Farley is director of the Erie Canal Discovery Center. Contact him at (716) 434-7433. The Discovery Center is open for the season.
Erie Canal Discovery
Related Photos
Discussion
May 6, 2008
FARLEY: Railroads — Part 1
- Erie Canal Discovery
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FARLEY: The Erie Canal gun telegraph
The following communication was first published by the Buffalo Historical Society on April 7, 1863.
- FARLEY: The ice house on the canal The history of the Erie Canal is filled with information that doesn’t seem to fit into a typical category. One such item was gleaned from the life of Paul Murphy, born in Hartland in 1892.
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FARLEY: Railroads along the canal — Part 2
By 1860, with passenger travel settled in favor of the railroads, the next course of business lay in the transportation of freight. New York state had a vested interest in protecting its state owned Erie Canal.
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FARLEY: Railroads — Part 1
Vastly different, yet still very similar, the Erie Canal and the American railroads left their own marks on history. The Erie Canal traces its beginning to 1807 and the writings of Jesse Hawley, who wrote an early description of a canal which would join the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean.
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FARLEY: The life and times of an Erie Canal cook
We have learned much about life on the Erie Canal from one of its best friends, Richard Garrity of the Tonawanda’s. His remembrances of growing up on the canal help us to picture the scene in our minds eye. The following narrative is graciously attributed to Mr. Garrity.
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FARLEY: Recollections from an early settler
The owners of the first log home near what is now the Lockport Locks was acknowledged to be Dr. Isaac Smith and his wife, Edna Deane Smith. The couple operated an infirmary out of their cabin. Anyone who was hurt as a result of work on the Erie Canal would most likely have been taken to the Smith home. Mrs. Smith, a Quaker, affectionately known as Aunt Edna, served as a nurse for her husband.
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FARLEY: Life on the Erie Canal
Life on the Erie Canal represented a culture all its own, a way of existence that included its own vocabulary, its own laws, its own dangers and its own beauty. For some, it was a hard, demanding life. No doubt it was for many of the thousands whose livelihood depended on it during the canal’s peak years. Yet it offered special rewards that people found irresistible. The world of the canal was an escape from the ordinary and had its own special excitement.
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FARLEY: The story of Edith Kohler — Part 2
The story this week is part two of the personal experiences of Edith Kohler who was born on the Erie Canal and lived to be over 100 years old in Lockport. These remembrances were told to others during the waning years of her life.
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CANAL DISCOVERY: The experiences of Edith Kohler — part one
Many stories are told about the workers who built the Erie Canal. Other stories focus on the men, women and children that lived and worked on the canal. Lockport is fortunate to have a plethora of stories that have been passed down by a grand lady who grew up on a canal boat.
- CANAL DISCOVERY: Bridges over the canal The history of the Erie Canal contains quite a few stories of men and women who received an “up-close and personal” understanding of the term “low bridge.” Many of the stories pertain to the poor souls who failed to heed a captain’s shout of “down on deck” or “bridge.”
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