Jan 1
The Chicago Canal opens.
Feb 5
The United States and Great Britain sign the Hay-Pauncefote Treaty, giving the
U. S. exclusive rights for an Isthmanian canal across Central America.
Aug 1
Nicaragua cancels its canal concession. with the U. S.
Nov 16
McKinley's commission recommends a Nicaraguan canal.
December
The United States and Great Britain ratify the Hay-Pauncefote Treaty, giving the
U. S. exclusive rights for an Isthmanian canal across Central America.
Dec 4
The U. S. canal commission report is sent to Congress.
The Susquehanna Canal shuts down commercial operations. ** The Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal reaches Joliet, Illinois. ** London's Paddington Canal is completed. ** To meet a rising demand for power New York's Niagara Falls Hydraulic Power & Manufacturing Compnay begins an expansion program, building a second powerhouse and enlarging the Hydraulic Canal.
Jan 8
The U. S. House of Representatives authorizes a Nicaraguan canal.
Jan 18
The Walker Commission recommends a Panamanian canal to Roosevelt.
Jun 19
The U. S. Senate passes the Panamanian canal bill.
Jun 26
The U. S. House of Representatives passes the Panamanian canal bill.
Jun 28
President Teddy Roosevelt signs the Spooner Bill, authorizing construction of the Panama Canal.
August
Columbia refuses to permit a canal through her Panamanian territory.
Nov 4
A Panamanian revolution takes place, with one fatality - a Chinese national.
Nov 6
The U. S. officially recognizes the Republic of Panama.
Paleontologist Clifton James Sarle names a shale-dolomite mixture
Pittsford Shale, for the town where the formation was uncovered
when the Erie anal was deepened, in 1897-8
Feb 26
Roosevelt signs a treaty granting Panama independence.
The Lakefield-Port Perry section of the Trent-Severn Waterway is completed with the opening of the Peterborough hydraulic lift locks. ** An electric engine is used to pull canal barges on France's Canal de la Senseé.
Construction begins on the New York State Barge Canal, at Waterford, on the north sde of the Mohawk River. ** Richard J. Garrity begins operating two canal boats in the lumber trade. His young son, future author Richard G. Garrity, accompanies him.
Noble E. Whitford's "History of the Canal System of the State of New York" is published as a supplement to the annual N. Y. Engineer and Surveyor report.
Jan 30
John Stevens resigns, leaving the Panama Canal project.
Mar 31
George W. Goethals becomes Chief Engineer and General Superintendent of the Panama Canal. ** The electric railway used to pull barges on France's Sensée Canal is extended to reach from Béthune to Le Bassin Rond.
Matthew Henry Johnstone, Merickville lockkeeper on Canada's Rideau Canal, retires and is replaced by shopkeeper John Cransoun.
The State legislature votes to improve the Cayuga and Seneca Canal(s):
junction of the Seneca and Clyde rivers to Cayuga Lake (Cayuga
Canal); the Cayuga Canal to Seneca Falls (Seneca Canal).
The U. S. Congress approves the canalization of the Ohio River.
New Yorrk State senator George F. Argetsinger and assemblyman Frank A. Waters get legislation passed allowing cities to have the first chance to purchase canal lands, at an appraised price fixed by the State Board of Canals.
Oct 10
The temporary Gamboa Dyke is dynamited by President Wilson, via remote control, joining the waters of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans at Panama.
Aug 15
The Panama Canal is formally opened to traffic. ** The Davis Lock of the Soo opens. ** Construction begins on the Severn division of the Trent-Severn Waterway.
New York
Erie Canal historian Marvin Rapp is born.
August
Niagara Falls, New York's Hydraulic Canal is opened to the public as a park.
The Lake Rice-Bay of Quinte section of the Trent-Severn Waterway
opens. ** The New York State Barge Canal is completed. ** The
Erie Canal dam at Tonawanda is removed so that tug-pulled Barge
Canal boats can go from Tonawanda to Buffalo. Periodic flooding
in the area is also alleviated.
The Sabin Lock of the Soo opens.
Jun 4
The Erie Canal through Rochester is officially abandoned.
Jun 6
The first three boats arrive in Rochester's new Barge Canal harbor.
July
The motor-launch Irene makes the first passage through the completed Trent-Severn Waterway.
The Severn division of the Trent-Severn Waterway is completed.
Rochester, New York, authorizes a subway in the old Erie Canal bed. The canal bridge on West Main is removed.
The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal shuts down commercial operations.
New Jersey's Morris Canal ceases operations.
Mar 22
The Norwich Sun prints an interview with Nuel Stever, a
former boatman on the Chenango Canal.
Forty-six locks and dams are completed on the Ohio River.
The U. S. Congress approves construction of 28 dams and locks
along the Mississippi River between Minneapolis and the mouth
of the Illinois River.
The Schuylkill Navigation shuts down commercial operations.
The Welland Canal is rebuilt.
The Illinois Waterway is completed. ** Construction begins on
seven dam-lock combinations on the Tennessee River.
March
The Merrimack River floods. 'Francis Folly' saves Lowell, Massachusetts, from destruction.
Madden Dam is constructed on Panama's Chagres River to provide
additional water for the canal.
The U. S. Congress grants funds for strengthening the Panama Canal's
defenses.
Belgium - The 80-mile, six-lock Albert Canal is built.
France's Compagnie Génerale de Traction
sur le voies Navigables absorbs the Sensée Canal.
Feb 19
Construction begins on a third set of ship locks for the Panama Canal.
The Lehigh Canal shuts down commercial operations.
The Soo Canal's MacArthur Lock replaces the Weitzel Lock. ** The
Chambly Canal is completed, connecting the lower St. Lawrence
River with Lake Champlain.
The seven dam-locks on the Tennessee River are completed.
The Aluminum Company of America plant, largest remaining industry on Niagara Falls' Hydraulic Canal, closes.
© 2000 David Minor /Eagles Byte