The Hudson River is the major north-south river in New York State, navigable as far north as Albany. The completion of the Erie Canal connected the Hudson with the commerce of the Great Lakes, making New York City, whose harbor is the lowest part of the estuary of the Hudson, the country`s most important seaport. Tidal effects on the Hudson continue as far upstream as Troy.
The first commercial steamboat was the Clermont, which traveled the Hudson between New York City and Albany, beginning in 1807. The United States Military Academy is at West Point, on the west bank of the Hudson 40 miles north of New York City.