Opening of the Erie Canal

US #1325 was issued on the 150th anniversary of the canal’s groundbreaking in Rome, New York. Click the image to order.
On October 26, 1825, the Erie Canal opened, offering a quicker shipping route through New York’s waterways.
In the early 1800s, sending goods west from New York City across the state was expensive and took a lot of time. There were no railroads yet and it took two weeks to travel by stagecoach. Several New York legislators proposed the idea of building a canal across the state, and they received tremendous support from Governor DeWitt Clinton.