The way west after the
Revolutionary War was a difficult route mostly because of the
Appalachian Mountains and the lack of a waterway which could
carry settlers and goods to the western part of New York state
and beyond.The Erie Canal
The way west after the
Revolutionary War was a difficult route mostly because of the
Appalachian Mountains and the lack of a waterway which could
carry settlers and goods to the western part of New York state
and beyond.
Lead by Governor Clinton, the leaders of New York began the eight year long task of constructing a canal from Albany to Buffalo in order to connect the east to the west. Work on the Erie Canal began in 1817 at Rome, New York since the land was level and no locks would need to be constructed. The canal was to be forty feet in width and 363 miles long. After surveying the land, one man would be hired to put together a team of workers who would clear the land and dig the canal. These men worked from the time the sun came up until sunset, were given food and a place to sleep, and were paid about eighty cents a day.
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The area known as the Montezuma swamp presented a problem in the construction of the canal. Workers became ill with malaria which is a disease carried by mosquitoes. It was feared that the construction would have to stop in this area since the workers found it impossible to get through the deep mud and rushes, but Van Rensselaer Richmond, an engineer from Lyons, came to the rescue with his design of an aqueduct, or a structure which would carry the canal over the wetlands. There were two aqueducts built on the canal in Wayne County. One was in Lyons and a second in Palmyra you can still see today. |
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Because the land in New York and Wayne County is not completely level, locks were needed on the canal. There was a need for someone to operate the canal so lock tenders were used. They were just one of many people who worked on the canal or "canawlers." Towpath walkers had one of the most important jobs, which was to walk a ten mile section of the towpath, the area along the canal where the horses and mules who pulled the boats walked, and look for cracks or leaks in the canal. On the boats were a captain, a hoggee, which was the driver, two steersman, a cook, and a deckhand. In addition to the canawlers, the many businesses along the canal route provided employment for many people.
In 1820-1821, the canal reached Wayne County. The first boat to travel this section of the canal was the Myron Holley. Due to the increased canal traffic the canal towns of Macedon, Palmyra, Newark, Lyons, and Clyde saw growth in business since now raw materials as well as finished products could be easily shipped. The size of the towns and population increased greatly along with the growth of business.
