The Erie Canal

Orlando Metcalfe Poe
Erie Canal Lock, plan, elevation,
and section drawing
Graphite, ink, and watercolor on
paper, 1855-1856
Prints & Photographs Division
LC-USZC4-1954 (133.11)
[digital ID# cph3g01954]

Begun 1817 and opened in 1825, the Erie Canal was one of America's earliest and greatest construction projects. Covering a total of more than 543 miles, its eighty-four locks accommodated a total rise and fall of 692 feet. New York City became America's largest metropolis due, in large part, to its unrivaled access to the interior it gained through the canal. By the 1850s, student engineers were studying the canal's construction. West Point Cadet Orlando Poe drew this plan.