Buffalo’s Canal District was situated between the Terrace, Erie St., Main St., and the waterfront. The city’s position as the terminus of the Erie Canal transformed the Buffalo harbor into one of the most vital ports in the world. At its inception in 1825, the 40-foot-wide, 4-foot-deep canal stretched 363 miles from Albany to Buffalo and offered significantly reduced shipping costs and travel time. Buffalo became the Gateway to the West, connecting ports along the Great Lakes to the eastern seaboard. It served as a transshipment point where travelers flooded the district for westward settlement and where western farmers transported their goods eastward and then onto world trade. Canal enlargements, rerouting, and improvements happened over time. The section of the canal that ran through the City of Buffalo ceased to be used by 1918 due to the creation of the New York Barge Canal. The city’s portion of the canal was filled-in over time by the end of 1937.
1870 photograph looking toward mouth of the harbor, Erie St. showing on left.
Sheet music for "Low Bridge, Everybody Down."