State History

Source: Time Warner Cable News

UTICA, N.Y. -- Soon it'll be 200 years since construction on the Erie Canal, an "engineering marvel," began.

"It's not an exaggeration to say that the canal opened up the western territories of the United States to expansion unlike any other transportation system that came before it," Oneida County History Center Executive Director Brian Howard said.

It all began in Oneida County. Construction on the canal connecting Albany and Buffalo began in the city of Rome.

"It's a great feather in our cap for our local history and people need to be made aware of that," Howard said. "This 200th anniversary is only going to happen one time."

Howard says the Erie Canal originally went through downtown Utica where Oriskany Street is now. However, a change was necessary when traffic on the canal continued to increase, so officials decided that the waterway should be moved to North Utica and the Barge Canal was constructed.

"The coming of the railroads also threatened the canal's existence," Howard said. "So, the state invested in the construction of an entirely new system that paralleled the original Erie north of its initial path. It was the internet of its day. It carried people. It carried commerce. It carried ideas. It's hard to overstate its impact to our nation's history, and it all started right here in Oneida County."

The Oneida County History Center is hosting an Erie Canal Bicentennial Conference May 19th through the 21st.

The Oneida County History Center is partnering with the Canal Society of New York State to conduct bus tours on May 20th.

There may also be a canal cruise.