Years of fighting land wars in the colonies had shaped American thinking around transporting large groups of people, a line of thought that led directly to the construction of the Erie Canal.
As American colonists pushed west, their efforts to connect people and products also resulted in considerable exploration and alteration of the land, some reflection on man-made impacts, and the production of maps, sketches, and more documents that help us tell the story of early New York State and the Erie Canal. [Read more…] about Maps and Geography: Early NYS Transportation History
Historic Hudson and the Columbia County Historical Society have announced an illustrated lecture: “All Roads to the River: The 1799 Columbia Turnpike and Historic Toll Houses,” to be held Saturday, November 12, 4 pm at the Vanderpoel House, 16 Broad Street, in Kinderhook.