Opened in 1825, the Erie Canal connects the Atlantic Ocean to the upper Great Lakes and runs more than 350 miles east and west between the Hudson River near Albany and Lake Erie at Buffalo, with locks that raise and lower boats more than 570 feet. It opened the interior of North America, transformed New York into the Empire State, carried settlers and immigrants westward, helped give rise to cities and new industries in New York and the Midwest, and moved the products of farms and factories east to Atlantic markets. Enlarged over the years to accommodate larger boats, it still operates as an active and historic waterway, and its wider canal system includes the Cayuga-Seneca, Oswego, and Champlain canals, which form a network of inland waterways connecting the Great Lakes, Finger Lakes, Lake Champlain, and Canadian waters.
