Editing Erie Canal (section)

=== Migratory impact ===
New ethnic Irish communities formed in some towns along its route after completion, as Irish immigrants were a large portion of the construction labor force.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Ohio and Erie Canal Historic District:Ohio and Erie Canal National Heritage Corridor: A National Register of Historic Places Travel Itinerary|url=https://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/ohioeriecanal/TextOnly.htm|access-date=2021-07-21|website=www.nps.gov}}</ref> A plaque honoring the canal's construction is located in [[The Battery (Manhattan)|Battery Park]] in southern Manhattan.<ref>{{Cite web|title=The Battery Monuments : NYC Parks|url=https://www.nycgovparks.org/parks/battery-park/monuments|access-date=2021-07-21|website=www.nycgovparks.org}}</ref>

Because so many immigrants traveled on the canal, many [[genealogist]]s have sought copies of canal passenger lists. Apart from the years 1827–1829, canal boat operators were not required to record passenger names or report them to the New York government. Some passenger lists survive today in the New York State Archives, and other sources of traveler information are sometimes available.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Burke Lyttle|first=Annette|date=2019|title='The Marriage of the Waters': The Erie Canal and the Opening of the Midwest|url=https://www.scgsgenealogy.com/webinar/media/190515handout.pdf|access-date=July 21, 2021|archive-date=July 21, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210721175252/https://www.scgsgenealogy.com/webinar/media/190515handout.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

The canal allowed [[Buffalo, New York|Buffalo]] to grow from just 200 settlers in 1820 to more than 18,000 people by 1840.<ref name="Finch"/> Immense population growth was seen across the Upstate NY cities that touched the Erie Canal within the first decade after the waterway's 1825 opening, including Albany, Syracuse, Rochester, and Lockport.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Historical Context: The Maker of Cities :: Consider The Source Online |url=https://considerthesourceny.org/using-primary-sources/erie-canal-new-yorks-gift-nation/chapter-8-erie-canal-and-urban-development/historical-context-maker-cities |access-date=2025-05-17 |website=considerthesourceny.org}}</ref>