National Pickle Day - Pickles Salty Connection to the Erie Canal

The history of the Erie Canal and pickles are rooted through 19th-century food preservation, mass salt production, and canal-side trade. The canals of New York played a critical role in American food preservation and trade by connecting landlocked salt and agricultural resources to growing urban markets, leading to the rise of major canal-side pickle and vinegar operations.

Official shipping manifests and historical records from 1825 to 1917 list pickled fish, pickles, and barreled vegetables as standard cargo transported alongside lumber, grain, and salt.  Before the Erie Canal opened in 1825, salt in the American colonies/states was largely imported and tied to transatlantic shipping.

Large New York salt deposits became easily accessible via the canal, drastically reducing the cost of salt needed for packing, pickling, and preserving meats, cucumbers, and vegetables for a growing nation.

Syracuse, New York, became the salt* capital of the United States after the Erie Canal opened in 1825, turning local brine springs around Onondaga Lake into a massive commercial industry. It became known as “the Salt City” because of it.

Salt has been the primary ingredient required for commercial food preservation for generations. Pickles, sauerkraut, salt pork, and cheese production has relied heavily on Onondaga salt shipped out via the Erie Canal and the Oswego Canal.

Canastota Pickle Factory in the Erie Canal village of Canastota once operated a large-scale pickle factory directly on its shores to process and ship agricultural goods using the canal's low-cost freight system.

In Medina, the H.J. Heinz operated a pickle factory around 1899 as a major branch of the H.J. Heinz Company. Positioned near the Erie Canal and the railroad, the complex processed pickled cucumbers, vinegar, ketchup, and apples, acting as a massive local employer.

Similarly, the Pittsford Pickle Works carried the tradition with L.C. Forman and the creation of “Piccalilli, a spicy relish which immediately became a favorite of folks who like hotdogs and hamburgers and it was sold nationwide.” Forman established that prominent pickle and sauerkraut business in Pittsford right along the canal route. It famously produced pickles, kraut, and nationally distributed "Piccalilli" relish, even utilizing local labor and WWII prisoners of war during mid-century shortages. Communities along the western portion of the canal, such as Pittsford, housed prominent 19th-century pickle and food-packing operations that distributed goods far and wide – an industry that lasted well past the mid-20^th century.

Pickles aren’t the only salty canal food connections: Workers in the Syracuse salt blocks also famously invented salt potatoes by tossing small potatoes into the boiling salt vats.