The Erie Canal is getting quite a birthday party. It was 200 years ago this month when construction began on the Canal. When it was completed in 1825, the canal connected Lake Erie with the Hudson River - forever changing a young nation, socially and economically. It’s the latter that state and local leaders are working to emphasize. While the Erie Canal has been described as an “empire builder” by Professor of Religious Studies S. Brent Rodriguez Plate, does it still have relevance as an economic force today?
WATCH: Is the Erie Canal still economically important?
