Quote:
Originally Posted by iheartthed
I read somewhere that the Empire State moniker is actually an allusion to New York's connection to the Great Lakes. It was New York's connection to the Great Lakes that enabled much of the city's industrial era successes.
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Huh, who knew? Never heard that before... I'm sure there are a number of potential historical origins of the name.
And not only NYC's industrial era success... the whole nation's economic success. NYC became the port for all of the interior northeast and subsequently, midwest, because of its connection to the Great Lakes. By connecting NYC to the region, the Erie Canal transformed NYC into THE top commercial center in the US and changed the American economy into a consumer-driven market. It made NYC the gateway to the rest of the country for raw materials, manufactured goods, and immigration... something Baltimore and Philly (who's market draws were only regional) couldn't compete with, and allowed NYC to far outpace them and develop into the "capital of the world" as we know it. It's an amazing history to think what an 1820s ditch resulted in.