07/11/2026
When the Erie Canal celebrated its grand opening on October 26, 1825, it used what was essentially the 19th-century version of a fiber-optic network: a cannon telegraph.
Because there was no electricity or telegraph lines yet, a chain of cannons was stationed all along the 363-mile length of the canal and down the Hudson River, each within earshot of the next. When the packet boat Seneca Chief departed Buffalo carrying Governor DeWitt Clinton, the first cannon fired. Each subsequent gunner fired their cannon the moment they heard the boom from upstream.
The signal traveled from Buffalo all the way to New York Harbor in just 81 to 90 minutes, the fastest communication over that distance in human history up to that point.
The cannon preserved at the Van Alstyne Homestead in Canajoharie is historically recognized as No. 19 in that grand sequence.
When the state organized the opening day festivities, they mapped out exactly where each piece of artillery needed to be positioned to bridge the gap between towns along the Mohawk Valley. The Van Alstyne Homestead sits right along the canal route in Montgomery County, making it the perfect strategic location for the 19th link in the chain.
Hearing the echo of Cannon #18 from the west, the gunner at the homestead fired #19, passing the historic boom further east down the valley toward Albany and eventually Manhattan.
