Erie Canal commemorative plate
Smithsonian Institution, Photo by Richard Strauss, Negative #: 2003-19231
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This object appears in the following sections:
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Erie Canal at Buffalo commemorative plate
Catalog #: 62.926A,
Accession #: 171126
Currently on display
From the Smithsonian Collection
Ralph Stevenson based the scene featured on this plate on a sketch by Captain Basil Hall and engraved by W. H. Lizars, which was featured in a book Forty Etchings from Sketches Made with the Camera Lucida in North America in 1827-1828. |
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Physical Description |
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Dimensions: 10 1/4 inches diameter, 1 1/8 inches height
Materials: white glazed earthenware
Black transfer decorated plate featuring a view of the Erie Canal at Buffalo.
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Details |
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Credit: | Gift of Ellouise Baker Larsen |
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History |
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When workers began digging the Erie, the longest existing canal in the U.S. measured 28 miles long. In contrast, the Erie Canal was planned to extend over 300 miles, connecting the Hudson River with Lake Erie, the East Coast with the frontier. The canal was funded by the state of New York. Even before it officially opened in 1825, the canal began to generate income. The Erie Canal gave 19th-century New York an edge over other commercial port cities on the Atlantic coast. The Erie canal's success encouraged canal building elsewhere, and by 1840, the United States had 3,326 miles of canals.
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Related People, Places, and Events |
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Manufacturer
Ralph Stevenson
Donor
Ellouise Baker Larsen
Place of Manufacture
England
Place Pictured
Erie Canal at Buffalo
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