| Chronological List of Most Significant United States Canals Used by Settlers
|
| Name
|
Opened
|
Origin
|
Destination
|
| Champlain Canal
|
1818/1823
|
Hudson River (Troy, New York)
|
Lake Champlain (Whitehall, New York)
|
| Erie Canal
|
1819/1825
|
Hudson River (Albany, New York)
|
Lake Erie (Buffalo, New York )
|
| Schuykill Canal
|
1825
|
Delaware River (Philadelphia, PA)
|
Union Canal (Reading, Pennsylvania)
|
| Union Canal
|
1828
|
Schuykill Canal (Reading, Pennsylvania)
|
Susquehanna River (Middletown, PA)
|
| Ohio and Erie Canal
|
1828/1832
|
Lake Erie (Cleveland, Ohio)
|
Ohio River (Portsmouth, Ohio)
|
| Louisville and Portland Canal
|
1830
|
Ohio River (Louisville, Kentucky)
|
2 mile (3.2 km) waterfall by-pass
|
| Beaver and Erie Canal
|
1831/1844
|
Ohio River (Beaver, Pennsylvania)
|
Lake Erie (Erie, Pennsylvania)
|
| Pennsylvania Canal (Main Line)
|
1834
|
Delaware River (Philadelphia, PA)
|
Ohio River (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)
|
| Delaware and Raritan Canal
|
1834
|
Raritan River (New Brunswick, NJ)
|
Delaware River (Bordentown, NJ)
|
| Chesapeake and Ohio Canal
|
1836
|
Georgetown, District of Columbia
|
Cumberland, Maryland
|
| Wabash and Erie Canal
|
1837/1853
|
Lake Erie (Toledo, Ohio)
|
Ohio River (Evansville, Indiana)
|
| Pennsylvania and Ohio Canal
|
1840
|
Beaver and Erie Canal (New Castle, PA)
|
Ohio and Erie Canal (Akron, Ohio)
|
| Miami and Erie Canal
|
1845
|
Ohio River (Cincinnati, Ohio)
|
Lake Erie (Toledo, Ohio)
|
| Illinois and Michigan Canal
|
1848
|
Lake Michigan (Chicago, Illinois)
|
Illinois River (Peru, Illinois)
|