Pennsylvania and Ohio Canal
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[edit] Origin
In Warren, Ohio at a convention held on November 13, 1833, 109 delegates decided to fund privately the Pennsylvania and Ohio Canal.[1] Work began on the P & O Canal (as it was and is commonly called) in 1835. Large celebrations occurred along the canal's route when it officially opened on August 4, 1840.[2]
[edit] Construction
Workers manually dug the 82 miles of the P & O using picks, shovels, and wheelbarrows. It ran from New Castle, Pennsylvania to Akron, Ohio along old Native American trails and the Cuyahoga and Mahoning Rivers. In Northeast Ohio, Lake Pippen and Brady Lake were water sources for the canal.[3]
[edit] Impact
As with other canals in the region, mules and horses pulled the canal boats that navigated the P & O. Using this and other canals, goods and passengers were ferried from Pittsburgh to Cleveland and Lake Erie. This contributed to trade between Northeast Ohio and other Eastern states making towns and villages along the canal larger and more prosperous.[2]
[edit] Closing
All sections of the canal were shutdown by 1872.[4] Today, traces of the canal's bed remain in Munroe Falls, Ohio.[2] A P & O Canal aqueduct remains in Kent, Ohio.[3]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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