WI: Michigan Canal (Great Lakes to Mississippi)

Wallet

Banned
image.png
The Erie Canal connects the Great Lakes (Lake Erie) to the Hudson River, which leads into New York City. This made it possible for a ship to sail from New York City to Chicago.

First started in 1817, and completed in 1825 (although use started between New York and Albanay in 1821), it was considered a huge accomplishment for the United States.

Plans were made for a canal to be build from Chicago (Lake Michigan) to the Illinois River, which connects to the Mississippi River. The distance would have been much shorter then the Erie Canal and much easier to build. It was just flat plains.

Because of this, this was never a problem to travel. And by the time Chicago was growing into a major city, railroads were spreading.

What if the Michigan Canal was built? It would then be possible to sail from Chicago to New Orleans. Passing major cities such as St. Louis and Memphis.

Maybe if railroads are postponed, could the Michigan canal be possible?
 
Err... Sanitary and Ship Canal. Already exists. OTL.

Not only that, but it takes bigger boats than the Erie does.

A bunch of US submarines were built on the Great Lakes and sailed down the Mississippi. You couldn't do THAT with the Erie canal.
 
There was also a proposed canal to do that same thing that would have cut through Southern Wisconsin with its terminus north of Milwaukee. However, the problem was, is got mired in politics and had trouble finding funding. By the time it became more viable, the railroads came through and canal building ground to a halt.
 
What if the Michigan Canal was built? It would then be possible to sail from Chicago to New Orleans. Passing major cities such as St. Louis and Memphis.
I'm sorry? The Illinois and Michigan Canal was built, it opened in 1848. It was later replaced by the larger Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal in 1900 which ran along roughly the same route to allow larger vessels and by reversing parts of the river also help handle Chicago's sanitation needs like the name stated. As for the idea that it was all 'just flat plains' the number of locks they built and this schematic would rather seem to suggest differently.
 
Last edited:
Top