History of the Ohio & Erie Canal

What is a canal? You could call it a big ditch, filled with water, dug and formed by man for the purpose of carrying people, farm produce and manufactured products. Traveling was done on boats called passenger packets and cargo freighters which were pulled by mules that walked beside the canal on a road called the towpath.

Prior to 1825, the year Ohio began building its canals, Ohio's early settlers were struggling from economic strangulation. They were living settlers in an isolated wilderness setting without access to a buying market. Ohio knew that for the state to grow, both economically and in population, a means of transportation through this interior of the state was necessary. Thus, Ohio went into the canal building business.

It was not an easy task. First the routes had to be chosen. With thanks to Akron's co-founder, General Simon Perkins, the canal was routed through Akron which then consisted of only a few sparse settlers surrounded by forests and wilderness. General Perkins owned much of the land in this area and was willing to donate many acres if the canal would go through "his" town. The decision made the first leg of the Ohio-Erie Canal from Akron to Cleveland began.

To build roads through the unbroken wilderness was a tedious job. Thousands of "imported" men began working, clearing the land, moving heavy rocks, digging with pick and shovel, measuring, draining and daming and building the locks - just to mention a few of the necessities that were required. Leading these men was a Cleveland gentleman named Alfred T. Kelley who was called by many " The Father of Ohio's Canals". The work was hard and tedious. You must remember that the steams hovel and bulldozer were not invented yet - it was a pick-and-shovel operation, from sunrise to sunset. Men labored in knee-deep water and disease was prevalent, many died and they were paid little, during the early years the average wage was 30 cents a day, plus room and lodging. Even this small wage began to cause an economic change. Working on the canal was appealing and attracted many farmers from their land. There suddenly was a huge circulation of cash, prior to this most business was done using barter since cash in the area was rare. For the first time storekeepers began to sell their wares for money.

Ohio was not perfectly level and water will not run uphill, so canal builders had to provide locks for lifting and lowering boats. Akron, meaning "High Place" in Greek, is situated 395' higher that Lake Erie. Forty-two locks were needed from Akron to Cleveland because of this. Twenty-one of these locks, in almost step fashion, went through Akron. Some say that it was these locks that actually helped Akron grow. For it took at least 6 hours for a canal boat to pass all of these 21 locks. Passengers could depart at lock 21, go into town to trade, rest, eat and drink and 6 hours later re-board the boat again at lock 1. With this influx of trade, it was only natural that businesses began popping up around the locks.

On July 3, 1827 the first canal boat on the Ohio and Erie Canal left Akron, traveled through 41 locks and over 3 aqueducts along 37 miles (60 km) of canal, to arrive at Cleveland on July 4. While the average speed of 3 mph (4.8 km/h) seems slow, canal boats could carry 10 tons of goods and were much more efficient than wagons over rutted trails. In 1832, the Ohio and Erie Canal was completed. The entire canal system was 308 miles (496 km) long with 146 lift locks and a rise of 1,206 feet (368 m). In addition, there were five feeder canals that added 24.8 miles (39.9 km) and 6 additional locks to the system. Transportation was now available from Cleveland on Lake Erie to Portsmouth on the Ohio river, opening the way west on the Ohio river to the Mississippi river to the big port of New Orleans near the Gulf of Mexico. Access to eastern markets was now available by way of the Great Lakes and New York's Erie Canal.

After the success of the Ohio-Erie Canal was seen, private enterprise constructed the Pennsylvania-Ohio Canal which is refereed to as a feeder canal. This canal, completed in 1841 extended from the Pennsylvania line to Akron where it merged with the Ohio-Erie Canal. This connection made Akron an important inland water port.

In the meantime, Ohio was building another canal - the Miami and Erie, which extended from Toledo to Cincinnati. Other privately built feeder canals were also completed. The interior had opened up and the stated was prospering. The canals thrived, for a while. But almost as soon as the last canal was completed, the "Iron Horse" came into being. As railroad mileage grew, canal mileage shrank. The canal was still used for transporting goods, but most of the passengers preferred the comfort and speed of the railroads.

Finally, in 1913, the use of the Ohio-Erie Canal came to an end. Akron had a severe rainstorm, lasting for 3 days, which caused the swelling of the Little Cuyahoga River and a broken dyke at the East Reservoir, with water everywhere rushing into the canal. This caused the famous Flood of 1913. Because of this, the canal locks were dynamited and never to be rebuilt. Thus ended the era of canal transportation.

Finding remnants of most of the canal is not easy. There are no markers designating where they are. But they are still around. Many historically minded Ohioans today are attempting to preserve portions of the canal.

Be sure to check out the Ohio-Erie Canal Towpath bike and hike trail, it's right in your own backyard!