Ohio owes much of its rapid growth in population and industry to the growth of its canal system during the early 1800s. Ohio canals also played an important part in the westward expansion of America and accelerated the growth of my own state of Michigan in the days leading to its drive to statehood during the 1830s.
In 1820, Ohio's economy was dependent on small farms. Canal advocates knew improved transportation would open up new markets for Ohio goods and help the state's struggling farmers.
The Ohio legislature established a canal commission to survey possible routes to connect Lake Erie to the north with the Ohio River at the state's southern border. The commission died for lack of federal land donations or funding to purchase land for the canal.
Success of New York's 363-mile Erie Canal connecting the Atlantic Ocean via the Hudson River in eastern New York with Lake Erie prompted Ohio to establish another canal commission in 1822. The commission and state legislature approved canal routes from the Ohio River to Cleveland on Lake Erie and second north-south route in the western part of the state along the Miami and Maumee Valleys.
Ground breaking for the Ohio and Erie Canal took place on July 4, 1825.
Workers used hand tools to clear the route, dig trenches, line the canal with wood or sandstone, and build locks and aqueducts. Wages began at $5 per month plus room and board, and maybe a small daily ration of whiskey. Demand for more workers soon drove monthly wages as high as $15.
Ohio estimated a cost of $2.3 million to build the 308-mile Erie and Ohio Canal and 146 lift locks. The actual cost exceeded $10,000 per foot (more than $3 million total) for canal construction, with loan interest driving the final cost far higher.
The project nearly bankrupted Ohio, but the increased population and economic growth ended up far outweighing the costs.
The first stretch of the canal between Akron and Cleveland opened on July 4, 1827, with a boat making the trip at 3 mph. Canal travel was slow, but it was more efficient, reliable and comfortable than riding in a wagon over the rutted dirt roads. The cost to ship goods between the country's eastern coast and Ohio dropped from $125 per ton to $25 per ton.
Teams of mules on tow paths alongside the canal pulled freight boats, while teams of horses pulled faster passenger boats.
The Ohio and Erie Canal, completed in 1832, quickly became an important part of a network of canals across the nation making it easier to transport Ohio goods to the eastern states and bring new settlers to Ohio.
Canals began losing business to railroads in the 1850s. Shipping and traveling by railroad cost more, but it was quicker and the presence or absence of a waterway didn't limit routes.
The canals' usefulness as a shipping network ended in 1913 when flooding caused by heavy snowfall and rain destroyed many of the locks and washed out many canal banks.
Some canal towpaths still serve as transportation routes for walkers, hikers, and bicyclists.
The Towpath Trail in Ohio's Cuyahoga Valley National Park draws over 2 million visitors each year, and we saw plenty of people running or walking their dogs along the trail when we last visited the park in January.
The trail is fairly level and paved or hard-packed trail is accessible for wheelchair users, bicycles, or strollers much of the year. Horses can use some portions of the trail, and it is open for cross-country skiers during the winter.
I took the photos here near the trailhead at Canal Lock 29, where you can see the sandstone-lined aqueduct that carried boats into the lock.
A marker at the site explains how brick masons carved a mark into the hand-cut sandstone blocks to identify their work before shipping the blocks from nearby quarries to the canal sites.
Want to learn more Ohio's canal history? Check out Canal Fever: The Ohio & Erie Canal, from Waterway to Canalway by Lynn Metzer and Peg Bobel, Ohio's Grand Canal: A Brief History of the Ohio and Erie Canal by Terry K. Woods, or A Photo Album of Ohio's Canal Era, 1825-1913 by Jack Gieck.
Be sure to check my story History and nature trace a path through Cuyahoga Valley National Park for more about the park and its Towpath Trail.
© Dominique King 2011 All rights reserved
Thanks for the history, Dominique. We were intrigued by the triple locks we found in Dresden, OH, but I didn't know the whole story. http://minnemom.com/2009/02/03/ohio-erie-canal-triple-locks-dresden-ohio/
Posted by: Linda | April 19, 2011 at 05:52 AM
Linda-I remember your Dresden locks story! We don't have much at all in the way of canal remnants here in Michigan (the only planned cross-state canal I know of here was barely started and pretty much never went anywhere). I was surprised when I first saw the numerous Ohio & Erie Canal sites in Ohio. Just wait 'til I start in with the Miami & Ohio Canal stories-the M&E was a north-south canal system in western Ohio, while the O&E was the north-south canal system in the eastern part of the state.
Posted by: Dominique King | April 19, 2011 at 09:51 AM
What a wonderful history lesson! I've been thinking about visiting Cuyahoga Valley NP since I try to support the National Parks as much as I can, and it's so close to home. A trip for this summer or fall may be in order :-)
Posted by: WorkMomTravels | April 20, 2011 at 10:48 AM
Francesca-The park is definitely worth the trip! We've been there in the winter and spring, and I know there's even more to see and do in the summer and fall. Some of our favorite stops include this trail, the town of Penninsula, and Brandywine Falls...all great places to take photos!
Posted by: Dominique King | April 20, 2011 at 02:25 PM
Very interesting, I never know how important the Erie canal was to our area's growth over the last few centuries!
Posted by: Lake Erie Fishing Charters | May 11, 2011 at 10:19 AM
We don't see a lot about canal history up here in Michigan (the only one in the state that I know about was a tiny, tiny portion of one planned cross-state canal that never got beyond having about a dozen miles completed). So, it was especially interesting to me to learn about Ohio's canals and how they helped spur that state's growth...as well as that in Michigan and other states.
Posted by: Dominique King | May 16, 2011 at 07:33 AM