34 RURAL NEW YORK 



New York State has an extensive canal system now 

 largely fallen into disuse, with the exception of the 

 one great thoroughfare, the Barge Canal, successor 

 to the Erie Canal, and its tributaries which the State 

 is just now completing. The total mileage that has 

 been constructed is about 800, of which about 530 

 miles is now in service. The greater part of this is 

 represented by the Barge Canal which connects the 

 Hudson Eiver at Troy with Lake Erie at Buffalo 

 through the Mohawk Valley and across the Great 

 Lakes plain. It utilizes the channel of rivers and 

 lakes where possible. Extensive locks are required. 

 Branches also connect it with Lake Ontario at Os- 

 wego, and with Cayuga and Seneca Lakes at the up- 

 per ends of which are terminal facilities. The Erie 

 Canal was first finished in 1836, enlarged in 1840 to 

 a depth of seven feet with corresponding width and 

 has just now been entirely reconstructed and further 

 enlarged to a twelve-foot channel to carry large 

 barges, under the name of the Barge Canal. 



The other important canal is the Champlain which 

 connects the navigable portion of the Hudson River 

 at Troy with the foot of Lake Champlain through the 

 pass by Fort Edward, Fort Anne and Whitehall. 

 This also has been enlarged to Barge Canal dimen- 

 sions. 



Other important canals that should be mentioned 

 because of the part they played in the early develop- 

 ment of the country are the Delaware and Hudson 

 Canal, connecting the Hudson Eiver at Rondout 

 with Honesdale, Pennsylvania, which was opened in 



