Miami and Erie Canal
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Map credit: Ohio Department of Natural Resources.
In 1825, the Ohio Legislature approved funding to construct an Ohio water works system. Also in 1825 construction of the Miami Canal was started from Cincinnati to Dayton. In the 1830s it was decided to extend the canal to Lake Erie at Toledo; the canal was renamed the Miami and Erie Canal. It took from 1825 to 1845 to complete the Miami-Erie Canal and have it operational.
The Miami and Erie Canal was a canal that connected the Ohio River in Cincinnati, Ohio with Lake Erie in Toledo, Ohio. It consisted of 19 aqueducts, three guard locks, and 103 canal locks. Each lock measured 90 feet by 15 feet and they collectively raised the canal 395 feet above Lake Erie and 513 feet above the Ohio River. The peak of the canal was called the Loramie Summit and extended 19 miles between New Bremen, Ohio to lock 1-S in Lockington, north of Piqua, Ohio. The system consisted of 301.49 miles of canal channel and was completed at a cost of $8,062,680.07 in 1845. Boats were towed along the canal using either donkeys or horses walking on a prepared towpath along the bank. The boats typically travelled at a rate of four to five miles per hour.
Grand Lake St. Marys, an artificial lake west of St. Marys, Ohio was originally constructed as a reservoir to supply water for the canal. Lake Loramie in Shelby County also was constucted as a reservoir for the canal. Indian Lake in Logan County was greatly enlarged to provide a steadier supply of water for the Sidney feeder. All three lakes are still used for recreation.
A branch canal was constructed from the Miami and Erie Canal from Middletown, Ohio to Lebanon, Ohio, called the Warren County Canal. This branch was opened in 1840, but operable for less than 15 years before being abandoned.
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[edit] Construction standards
- 4 ft. water depth.
- 40 ft. wide at water level.
- 10 ft. wide towpath in addition to mandated outer slopes.
- All slopes are 4½ ft. horizontal to 4 ft. perpendicular.
- The canal could handle boats up to 32 ft. long and 14 ft. wide.
[edit] Decline and abandonment
Completed just before most of the railroads in Ohio were built, the canal competed with railroads through much of its useful life. Ice in the winter, as well as the slowness of the boats, made it fairly impractical compared to railroads, and by 1906, the canal had largely ceased to operate. A catastrophic flood of the Great Miami River in 1913 and the subsequent flood control measures constructed by the Miami Conservancy District destroyed much of the canal infrastructure along the southern portion of the route where it paralleled the Great Miami River. One of the original locks (#17) is located in the Carillon Historical Park in Dayton, Ohio. An unrestored, but complete lock is located just off Main Street (State Route 571) in Tipp City. Remains of the Excello lock are still located in the Butler County Excello Locks Park near the intersection of State Route 73 and South Hamilton Middletown Road in Lemon Township.
Much of the original towpath served as the right-of-way for the Cincinnati and Lake Erie Railroad, an electric interurban streetcar that operated until 1940. Part of the right-of-way was converted to the Wright-Lockland Highway (now part of Interstate 75). [1]
From 1920 to 1925 six million dollars was spent to use the bed of the canal to build a downtown subway in Cincinnati. The surface was paved over to form Central Parkway. Funds ran out before the Cincinnati Subway was completed.
[edit] Cities and towns along the canal
The following is a list of towns and cities (arranged North to South) along the Miami and Erie Canal.
- Toledo, Ohio
- Waterville, Ohio
- Providence, Ohio
- Texas, Ohio
- Napoleon, Ohio
- Florida, Ohio
- Defiance, Ohio
- Junction, Ohio
- Melrose, Ohio
- Ottoville, Ohio
- Delphos, Ohio
- Spencerville, Ohio
- St. Marys, Ohio
- New Bremen, Ohio
- Minster, Ohio
- Fort Loramie, Ohio
- Port Jefferson, Ohio (North end of the Sidney Feeder)
- Sidney, Ohio (Middle section of the feeder)
- Lockington, Ohio (Southern end junction of the Sidney Feeder)
- Piqua, Ohio
- Tipp City, Ohio
- Huber Heights, Ohio
- Dayton, Ohio
- Moraine, Ohio
- Alexandersville, Ohio
- West Carrollton, Ohio
- Miamisburg, Ohio
- Franklin, Ohio
- Middletown, Ohio
- Sharonville, Ohio
- Lockland, Ohio (Site of the first set of locks)
- Cincinnati, Ohio
