In the early 1800s, while in prison, a miller named Jesse Hawley in the Town of Geneva, N.Y., conceived the idea of a Canal stretching from west to east across New York State from Lake Erie to the Hudson River. Between 1807 and 1808 he authored 14 essays on the virtues of a Canal across the State. President Thomas Jefferson thought the idea "a little short of madness," but the idea was fully supported by then-New York City Mayor DeWitt Clinton.

At that time there was no simple way to transport people, raw materials or manufactured goods from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes. Overland transportation was arduous and expensive. New York State was covered with mile upon mile of wilderness, swamps, mountains, waterfalls, great inland lakes and only a handful of brave settlers.

When Clinton became governor of the State, he made sure the legislature quickly appropriated funds for the Canal's construction. When construction began, the project was known as "Clinton's big ditch" and "Clinton's Folly." The naysayers stubbornly clung to the manifesto "in the big ditch would be buried the treasury of the state to be watered by the tears of posterity."

It was constructed by crews of untrained men, without the aid of a single professional engineer. The men who designed and engineered the Canal were highly skilled surveyors and very intelligent, capable people. They studied the publications and completed works of the legendary French and English Canal builders such as Paul Riquet, James Brindley and Thomas Telford. The French Canals, which began in the early 1600's, were the model for all the Canals, including the English and American Canals such as the Erie.

With the exception of a few places where black powder was used to blast through rock formations, the Canal was entirely built by the muscle power of men and animals who pulled a new type of plow called the slip scraper (a high-tech 19th century version of what today is a bulldozer). They also invented a unique device that pulled giant tree stumps out of the ground almost effortlessly.

The New York Canal System cost $7 million to construct and was acclaimed as the greatest engineering marvel in the world. It was the longest Canal in the world. The original Erie Canal stretched 363 miles from Buffalo and Lake Erie on the west to Albany and the Hudson River on the east. The Hudson River navigation then united New York City with the west and Lake Erie with Europe.

The waterway, now world famous, opened October 26, 1825.

It was 40 feet wide and 4 feet deep, with 18 aqueducts to carry its waters across rivers and 83 locks to raise and lower boats a total of 682 feet from one end to the other.

The first fleet to travel all 363 miles of the Erie Canal was headed by Governor Clinton's boat the "Seneca Chief" which had on board several distinguished citizens and dignitaries. The boat took sail on October 26 from a commercial slip in Buffalo, along with a flotilla of two other boats.

Nine days later it arrived in New York harbor and was greeted by almost 150 vessels and thousands of New Yorkers. Generally referred to as the "Wedding of the Waters," Governor Clinton emptied two barrels of water from Lake Erie into the Atlantic Ocean in New York at a formal ceremony thereby commemorating not only the completion of the Canal, but the uniting of Lake Superior with the Atlantic Ocean.

The Erie Canal transformed New York State as cities blossomed almost overnight along the corridor and settlers flocked westward. The boomtowns had come to America. The cost to ship goods by Canal dropped to $10 per ton, as compared to $100 per ton by road. In 10 years, the Canal tolls more than recouped the entire cost of construction and maintenance. It showed a profit so large that it offset the state budget by two-thirds.

After the completion of the Canal System, statewide shipping costs were reduced by 94% and the first great westward movement of American settlers began, making New York City the busiest port in the U.S., surpassing Philadelphia as the nation's chief seaport.

The Canal was rebuilt between 1836 and 1862 and was known as the enlarged Erie. It was widened to 70 feet and deepened to 7 feet; 72 double locks were added and minor course changes were made mostly by straightening the many sinuous bends (or curves).

The enlarged Erie Canal reached a depth of 7 feet and could now handle freights carrying up to 240 tons. The earlier Canal could only hold boats with a 70-ton capacity.

Tolls were abolished on the Canal, which already raised funds in excess of $113 million above its original cost.

The State launched the second enlargement of the canal, called the "Nine Million Dollar Improvement," deepening the canal to nine feet.

Work suddenly stopped on the partially completed "Nine Million Dollar Improvement" due to insufficient funds. The Canal was on the verge of abandonment.

Governor Theodore Roosevelt appointed the Committee on Canals to study New York's Canal System and make recommendations as to a future course of action. This eventually resulted in the birth of the Barge Canal System.

Between 1905 and 1918, an entirely new enlarged Canal, the Barge Canal System, was created to accommodate the large barges. Major course changes were made and most of the original channel was abandoned, except in Western New York, and rivers that were originally avoided became part of the system. Nearly 100 years after the beginning of its original construction, the Canal took on the structure it is today: an average width of 125 feet, a depth of at least 12 feet and 35 locks. Some of the old locks have been preserved as historic sites. The engineers changed the Barge Canal's western and eastern terminus from Buffalo to Tonawanda and from Albany to Waterford.

Today's Barge Canal System consists of the Erie Canal and three major branches - the Champlain, the Oswego and the Cayuga-Seneca Canal.

The Mohawk, Hudson, Seneca, Oswego, Clyde and Genesee Rivers were canalized by the Barge Canal construction through a system of fixed and moveable dams, locks reservoirs and dredged channels.

All branches of the Canal System were finished and opened for traffic.

The people of New York State ratified an amendment to the State's constitution allowing long-term leasing of Canal System lands to encourage development along the Canal.

Legislation known as "Thruway 2000" was enacted transferring responsibility for the New York State Canal System from the New York State Department of Transportation to the New York State Thruway Authority.

The Canal Recreationway Commission was created, a 24-member body to advise the Thruway Authority on its canal-related activities. The Commission finalized the Canal Recreationway Plan in September.

A $32 million, five-year Canal Revitalization Program was developed in 1996 to serve as a realistic approach to Canal System development. The overall goals of the Revitalization Program are to preserve and rehabilitate the Canal infrastructure so that it is safe, accessible and available for future use; to enhance recreational opportunities; and to promote and foster economic development throughout the Canal Corridor.

The New York State Canal System celebrated its 175th anniversary. The year-long celebration marked the tremendous historic, cultural and economic contributions of the New York State Canal System to New York State.

Today, the mule-towed barges have given way to pleasure boats, hikers and cyclists as the waterways of the 524-mile New York State Canal System have evolved into a world-class tourism and recreation destination. 73.5 percent of New York State residents live within two miles of the waterways. The Canal System continues to produce dramatic growth for the state and the nation, creating an inland trade route and propelling economic development.