Last week I had the privilege of gliding down the Miami and Erie Canal within the Providence Metroparks near Grand Rapids, Ohio, on the canal boat, “The Volunteer.” Grand Rapids, Ohio is southwest of Toledo. I was reliving the experiences folks of the 1800s had during the heyday of canal boat life.
At three miles an hour, our Jefferson crew experienced the slower pace of life and listened as our docents told of life on canal boats and the villages and businesses that sprung up alongside the canal.
As the two mules walked down the adjoining towpath, guided by a hoogee or mule driver, we watched as the heavy tow rope extended from the mules to our boat dipped in an out of the water. The canal captain above us directed the rudder around low hanging trees and curves in the canal.
I chose this historical travel trip for the Gazette because of its 200th anniversary. Although the construction of the Erie Canal began in Rome, New York, in 1817, I chose to cover a portion of the waterway in Ohio hoping to inspire readers to make your own visit. On these historical trips, I try to locate unique, unusual places and sites not normally seen by the casual tourists.
Why was a canal needed and did it accomplish what the designers hoped it would? Farmers had plenty of goods to sell but no way to get them to a wider market. In the east, businesses and factories were opening, but the owners needed a way to transport them. The west was beginning to see development, but needed the goods of the east.
It was DeWitt Clinton, mayor of New York City and later governor, who inspired and directed the beginning of the Erie Canal from the Great Lakes to the Hudson River. Ground was broken on July 4th, 1817, with the canal finally reaching the shores of Lake Erie in 1825.
In Ohio, wheat sold for 10 cents a bushel and it cost a farmer more than that to get it to market by wagon. In 1820, the farmer lost money on every crop he shipped over poor roads. The canal would transform the market and bring in income not have been possible overwise.
The Ohio Legislature hired James Geddes, a self-trained engineer and surveyor, in 1822 to choose the canal routes in Ohio. Those routes became the Ohio and Erie Canal and the Miami and Erie Canal.
In Ohio, the bill was passed in 1825 to begin construction of the canal that would link the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River. Farmer and business owners could load their goods on wagons and take them to the canal to be transported by boat and on to markets elsewhere.
The building of the canals came at a high price, though. At first, the workers were local folks living near the proposed canal sites. But when the Irish immigrants entering America at 10,000 a year at the time learned of the work opportunity, they became the main workforce.
They worked 14 hours a day for 30 cents plus their food, whiskey and a shanty to sleep in. In the western part of Ohio, German, immigrants made up a large portion of the workforce. But disaster struck in the summer of 1827 when the weather became damp and muggy as the men worked in the swampy areas. Mosquitoes covered the men in hordes. Work was shut down as malaria and other diseased overtook the men.
The disease was so great that it was determined there was up to four dead Irishmen for every mile of canal. The men were buried on the spot creating the nickname for the anal as an “Irish Graveyard.”
By 1832, 308 miles of canalways crisscrossed Ohio providing the means for raw and agricultural goods to reach across the United States. Manufactured goods could be taken into nearby towns and villages. Mills sprung up all along the canal using the water from the reservoirs dug to provide water for the canal. The Ohio and Erie Canal connected Lake Erie (at Cleveland) to the Ohio River (at Portsmouth), while the Miami and Erie Canal connected Lake Erie (at Toledo) to the Ohio River (at Cincinnati). Both were equally important but they served different regions. The Ohio and Erie Canal was 363 miles long while the Miami and Erie was somewhat shorter at 274 miles long.
It would take until 1845, twenty years, that the Miami Erie canal would be completed. We visited as many locks as we could, searching areas most folks would never take the time to find but it was worth it.
On this trip, we covered the middle portion of the Ohio and Miami Canal because it was new territory I had not explored. Our Appleseed Retreat cabin sat at the end of a long dirt and gravel surrounded by rolling hills and a small stream. I chose the town of West Liberty as our base of operations so we could travel east, west then north each day from our spacious and luxurious cabin which would have been a delight to canal worker compared to the shanties offered them as they worked in the canal.
Each day we took a different direction and toured abandoned and working canals, some still with canal boats on them. The town of St. Mary’s is most noted for having the largest interior created lake in the world when it was built. Today, Grand St. Mary’s Lake is Ohio’s largest interior lake. It was created as a reservoir for the Miami and Erie Canal in 1845 and is now home to a wonderful state park. Stop at the Visitor’s Center and learn more about the region, the canal and even see a reconstructed eagle’s nest so large you can stand in it!
In the middle of the town of St. Mary’s, you can see the canal as it flows under the road, pass a the 1847 restored mill and walk along the trail beside the canal lined with pavers. The mill was in operation from 1847- 1972.
The canal boat “Belle of St. Mary’s” is located within the canalway park and can be boarded and toured during most months of the year. It does not move but gives you a good glimpse of life on a canal boat. There is not charge.
At the end of the walkway, you will find a tumble which is a hydraulic control structure to maintain water levels, provide power and cooling for nearby industries. At this point, you can see several locks, including Lock 12 and Lock 13.
In New Bremen, we discovered a lockkeeper’s house, bridges, locks, historical markers and a canal park. For such a small town, they had gone above and beyond to preserve the history of the canal in their area. The oldest cast iron bowstring girder bridge in Ohio, built in 1864, is the showpiece over the Miami Erie Canal in the middle of New Bremen.
It was originally part of a three-bridge structure over the Auglaize River in Wapakoneta, moved in 1894, moved again and restored in 1984 and put in place over the Miami Erie Canal in New Bremen. This stop is worth the time to see and there are no fees.
Next week, go with me the home and farm of one of the first canal commissioners who worked with the Indians and became their trusted friend. His home is more than 200 years old!
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