The Erie Canal is a canal in New York that originally ran about 363 miles (584 km) from Albany, New York, on the Hudson River to Buffalo, New York, at Lake Erie. It was built to create a navigable water route from New York City and the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes. The canal contains 36 locks and a total elevation differential of about 565 feet (172 m). It helped New York eclipse Philadelphia as the largest city and port[2] on the Eastern Seaboard of the United States.