CHAMPLAIN CANAL
- Program
- Subject
- Location
- Lat/Long
- Grant Recipient
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Historic Transportation Canals
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Industry & Commerce, Transportation
- 26 County Rd 86, Mechanicville, NY 12118, USA
- 42.861173, -73.682261
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Town of Halfmoon
CHAMPLAIN CANAL
Inscription
CHAMPLAIN CANALCOMPLETED 1823, CONNECTED
LAKE CHAMPLAIN TO HUDSON
RIVER. USED TO TRANSPORT
GRAIN, PRODUCE, LUMBER
AND MERCHANDISE.
WILLIAM G. POMEROY FOUNDATION 2023
According to a History of the Canal System of the State of New York, a supplement to the 1906 Annual Report of the State Engineer and Surveyor, canal commissioners first proposed a canal between Lake Champlain and the lower Hudson River in 1812. Work commenced on the canal in 1817 and was completed by 1823, with the canal officially in operation on September 10th of that year.
The 60-mile canal ran from Waterford to the town of Whitehall on Lake Champlain. It was constructed for use by commercial vessels transporting lumber, grain, apples, potatoes, butter, cheese, and merchandise between northern New York and western New England to urban centers, including New York City and Montreal.
An approximately 35-mile southerly section of the Champlain Canal, from Waterford to Fort Edward, was abandoned upon the completion of a part of the New York State Barge Canal project in 1916, which saw the canalization of the Hudson River. As of 2023, the Champlain Canalway Trail, a 6-mile section of the Empire State Trail, runs along the towpath of the former Champlain Canal from Cohoes to the town of Halfmoon in Saratoga County, New York.
