History of The Canal
The Erie Canal was built by the state of New York in 1817. The It took a long time to construct and it finally was completed after 8 years in 1825. The idea of canals has been around since the early eighteenth century. Previously, more than 150 miles east of Lake Erie, there were no major water ways that allowed easy access to the western interior. The Western Inland Lock Navigation Company and the Northern Company has made some of the water ways better, but they these methods were quite expensive and hard to depend on.