Welcome to 40x4x28, a visual exploration of the most consequential public infrastructure project in American history. The Erie Canal, originally completed nearly 200 years ago, forever altered the face and character of this country. I’m hoping to capture glimpses of its history by making digital landscapes of places along its path at specific moments in time. This site will document my research and the work in progress.
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All in the details
Little Falls was one of the most picturesque locations on the original Erie Canal, and its iconic aqueduct and dramatic Mohawk River gorge became favorite subjects for artists. One of those artists was the young John William Hill, who had emigrated from England with his parents in 1819. Early on he worked in his father’s …
Sculpting the Falls
“What a tremendous, awe-inspiring scene! Nature has moulded her works, here, on a grand scale, — and soon we shall see, as we may even now, that Art has caught the inspiration of the scene, and well seconded her efforts, in giving to it a sublime effect, and a finish truly admirable.” — Horatio Gates …
Locks and keys
The early proponents of the Erie Canal were a remarkable group. Jesse Hawley, Elkanah Watson, and Gouverneur Morris showed great imagination — and risked being labeled as madmen — when in the early 19th century they individually proposed constructing an artificial river from the Hudson to the Great Lakes. Hawley — a grain merchant with …