Meet John Wilkinson, a ‘man of uncommon vision,’ who brought the railroad to Syracuse
Posted Apr 28, 2021
A 1920 photograph of the reproduction the DeWiit Clinton. Courtesy of the Onondaga Historical AssociationCourtesy of the Onondaga Histori
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By Robert Searing | Curator of history, Onondaga Historical Association
One Hundred Eighty-Six Years Ago: In the spring of 1834, Syracuse was one of many small, but growing villages that had sprung up along the Erie Canal since the completion of the first section in 1820.
The engineering marvel of its day, the Erie Canal drastically reduced the costs and time associated with transporting everything from goods, to people and ideas, and turned New York into the Empire State. At the same time, a new technology, the railroad, was emerging that ultimately displaced the canal after years of stout competition.