The I&M Canal Era: Operating the Canal
“The I&M Canal changed the nation in 1848 when it opened the first shipping route between New York and New Orleans, creating Chicago as the nation's greatest inland port.”
-The Canal Corridor Association
-The Canal Corridor Association
“At a stroke, the opening of the Illinois and Michigan Canal in 1848 gave Illinois the key to mastery of the American mid-continent." -The Canal Corridor Association “Chicago, Peoria, and St. Louis were directly affected by the canal as a transportation route.”
-“The Illinois and Michigan Canal- National Canal Corridor” |
|
“The imports and exports of a community fairly indicate the condition of its economic development. Measured by this standard, the economic development of the canal region did not lag behind its growth of population. During the period under consideration, the import and export trade of the region chiefly centered at Chicago, as it has since continued to do. The trade at Chicago grew and altered in character with the development of the country tributary to it.”
-“The Illinois and Michigan Canal- National Heritage Corridor”
-“The Illinois and Michigan Canal- National Heritage Corridor”
"When the canal first was opened in the spring of 1848 only sixteen boats were commissioned to navigate through it. But demand was net and by the end of the first summer a large number of boats, in various degrees of soundness, were operating."
-Swamp to City: Chicago History from the Portage Site to the Metropolis Video Clip Source: "The Illinois and Michigan Canal Song" - Ray Tutaj Jr.
|
The Illinois and Michigan Canal opened the floodgates of merchants and traders to Boomtown Chicago!