VIDEO TRANSCRIPT
Jill Schumacher (Reporter): 2025 marked the bicentennial of the Erie canal. And 200 years later, we are still seeing the impact of this waterway on central New York. While a lot has changed since 18-25 when the canal was completed. Close to 80% of central and western New Yorkers still live within 25 miles north and south of the canal.
Steph Adams (Director of Interpretation): Before the full length of the canal is even completed, the population of Syracuse goes from 250 people in 1820. To just over 11,000 people in 1830. So just the very fact that we are settled today in the way that we are is because of the canal.
Schumacher: Building this 363-mile-long waterway took a lot of labor, causing people to move upstate looking for work. Here in the Erie Canal Museum is an original pay stub where an average worker would earn a dollar and twenty-five cents a day. These job openings brought new people, ideas, and economic opportunities to the area. Many people still travel to Syracuse today, and while it might not be by boat, it is to see history in the Erie Canal Museum. Front desk worker dick butler grew up in Syracuse and says the museum gave him the chance to meet new people.
Dick Butler (Front desk worker):I meet people from everywhere and I mean everywhere. All over the United States, all over New York State, and all over the world, who come here to learn more about the Erie Canal.
Schumacher:While the canal in downtown Syracuse has been filled in. This waterway still shapes the past, present, and future, proving its lasting impact on central New York. Jill Schumacher NCC News.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) – This year marks the bicentennial of the Erie Canal. The 200th anniversary celebrations honor what is considered one of the most transformative waterways in America. Numerous events are scheduled throughout the year to commemorate the bicentennial.
The Bicentennial Event Showcase, organized by Central New York Erie Canal Museums, will be held Feb. 21 at the Chittenango Landing Canal Boat Museum. Another event that will take place is the voyage of the replica Seneca Chief boat, which will travel from Buffalo to New York City on Oct. 25.
These events are intended to strengthen the community’s connection to the canal’s history.
The opening of the Erie Canal in 1825 connected Lake Erie to the Hudson River, which linked Albany to Buffalo–transforming trade, strengthening the economy, and changing the social landscape of New York.
Building a canal of this size took an estimated 50,000 laborers. New immigrants and U.S.-born citizens to travel to Upstate New York to fill these job opportunities. This new labor force was the foundation of cities like Albany, Syracuse, Buffalo, and Rochester.
Steph Adams, interpretation director at the Erie Canal Museum, said that the Erie Canal story is not only an opportunity to learn about local history, but also a window to what’s happening across the country.
“The Erie Canal corridor for the past 200 years is like a microcosm of everything that is happening in American history,” said Adams.
One visible way the Erie Canal has shaped New York today is population distribution. 200 years later, close to 80% of Central and Western New Yorkers still live within 25 miles north and south of the original path of the canal. Syracuse’s population alone grew tremendously after the canal’s construction. The population of Syracuse went from 250 people in 1820 to over 11,000 people in 1830.
“So just the very fact that we are settled today in the way that we are is because of the canal,” said Adams.
Dick Butler, visitor services associate at the museum and a Syracuse native, has always had a passion for the Erie Canal. Butler now meets people from all over the world who come to see the history at the Erie Canal Museum in Syracuse.
“The Erie Canal made New York State and made the United States in my opinion,” said Butler. “I don’t think people realize the impact the Erie Canal had on New York City.”
The canal transformed the state by lowering transportation costs and increasing the rate of exchanging goods. This boosted the economy and made New York City what it is today.
Before the Erie Canal, it typically took 20 days to transport goods across the state by land. The canal cut the travel time in half, making it a six-day trip on water.
Not only did it transform trade but it was a vessel of ideas as people gathered in the canal corridor and local taverns along the canal. Talks of women’s suffrage movements and abolitionism all flourished in this environment.
“Taverns were the communication vehicles of the 1800s, that is where people came to discuss politics and things that are happening,” said Butler.
While the Erie Canal no longer runs directly through Syracuse its impact is still visible today. Before it was filled in 1924, the canal ran directly through downtown Syracuse, shaping its layout. The canal’s old path is now marked by the street sign of Erie Boulevard.