Completed in 1825, the Erie Canal was a lifeline between the Midwestern United States and New York City, transporting freight, people, and ideas. Cities such as Buffalo and Chicago and many communities along the way got their start from this traffic carried by the Erie Canal. This transportation route, now traced by the Thruway, has been traveled for generations across the ancestral lands of the Haudenosaunee. The remains of the nineteenth century Erie Canal include the authentic stonework for Lock 52 from 1853. Lock 52 was used until 1917, when it was replaced by today's rerouted Erie Barge Canal. At its peak, the lock saw as many as two hundred boats a day, many bringing grain from Ohio, Michigan, Illinois, and other midwestern states. Nearby stands the 1895 Erie House, once the home of an immigrant family that welcomed travelers along the towpath.