Economic history of the United States
The 325-mile Erie Canal, which connected Albany, New York, on the Hudson River with Buffalo, New York, on Lake Erie, began operation in 1825. Wagon cost from Buffalo to New York City in 1817 was 19.2 cents per ton-mile. By Erie Canal c. 1857 to 1860 the cost was 0.81 cents. The Erie Canal was a great commercial success and had a large regional economic impact.
Cleveland, Painesville and Ashtabula Railroad (1848–1869)
The Erie Canal, linking New York City with Buffalo, New York, (via Albany and the Hudson River) opened in 1825 and proved to be a financial boon to merchants in New York City. The canal also gave cities on the Great Lakes a transportation cost advantage equal to that of cities on the Ohio River (then the major east-west transportation route for both goods and people west of the Appalachians). Encouraged by the canal's success, railroads began rapid construction in interior regions to link isolated markets to the canals and to other railroads.