Marking 200 Years of the Erie Canal

by DENISE WOLFE

With this year marking the bicentennial of the Erie Canal’s opening in 1825, the University at Buffalo Libraries is highlighting treasures in its Rare Books Collection that illuminate this transformational moment in New York’s history.

One of the most notable works is Memoir, Prepared at the Request of a Committee of the Common Council of the City of New York, published in 1825, the same year the Erie Canal opened. The volume not only celebrates the canal’s completion but also includes the first lithographic town views published in the United States—scenes of Buffalo and Lockport created by George Catlin. Though Catlin is primarily known for his depictions of Native American culture, his early works also featured engravings of natural sites along the Erie Canal route. These images, published in Memoir, represent a significant moment in American print history, as the book is among the first to use lithography.

Other volumes in the collection, such as Origin and History of the Measures that Led to the Construction of the Erie Canal (1866) and Erie Canal: Its Origin, Its Success, and Its Necessity (1868), reflect on the project’s lasting influence.

Together, these works preserve the Erie Canal’s legacy and underscore its enduring importance to New York’s history.