Growing Pains

Growing Pains. . , The original Erie Canal was built between 1817 and 1825. It proved to be so successful that plans for enlarging it began almost immediately. Authorized in 1836 with construction ending in 1862, the entire canal and its locks were widened and deepened to handle the larger boats now being used., Thomas Evershed, a 19-year-old immigrant from England, was the engineer placed in charge of the massive expansion project. He created this drawing of Lockport in 1839., Growth of a City , As construction of the Erie Canal moved from east to west, towns and villages sprang up at a rapid pace. Soon, Lockport had gone from a shantytown for canal workers to a prosperous business community as depicted in this drawing., The Niagara Escarpment , The Niagara Escarpment is a 450-million-year-old rock formation extending from Western New York through Canada, creating the falls at Niagara, and ending in Wisconsin., For the Erie Canal to reach Buffalo, it would require ascending the escarpment. Engineers selected this location since the escarpment rises only 60 feet, requiring the least amount of excavation., Still, it presented the greatest construction challenge on the canal. Evershed's drawing shows the double set of Flight of Five locks for east and westbound traffic. Today, the westbound flight, constructed between 1838-1842 during the canal's enlargement, remains and is what you see below., Visit the Locks District Museum at the base of the locks for the complete story., (Caption):, Thomas Evershed, c. 1886, (approx. 69 yrs.). Image from Niagara Power: History of the Niagara Falls Power Company, 1886-1918, by Edward Dean Adams, published 1926