OHIO STATEWIDE FILES - Know your Ohio: Ohio Canals (Part 7)
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by
Darlene E. Kelley
http://www.genrecords.net/emailregistry/vols/00026.html#0006374
September 11, 2001
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Historical Collections of Ohio
The Kelley Family Collections
Newspaper article, Plains Dealer
compiled by S.J. Kelley-- 1925
And Then They Went West
by Darlene E. Kelley  1998
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Ohio's Canals -- Part 7.

The Pennsylvania & Ohio--
( also called The Mahoning Canal )

The Pennsylvania & Ohio Canal was begun in 1835 and completed in 1840.
It extended from Akron across the Ravenna Summit, down the Cuyahoga and
Mahoning Rivers to junction with the Beaver & Erie Canal just south of
New Castle, Pennsylvania. It was about 83 miles long. It was eventually
abandoned and sold in 1877.

This canal system was also called " the Mahoning Canal " because for
most of its length it traveled akong the valley of the Mahoning River,
and called Cross Cut because it crossed this part of Ohio to
Pennsylvania from west to east.

It was privately financed due mostly because the State felt that they
should not directy finance a canal that went into another State. This
Canal opened up distant markets to farmers and encouraged the
development of the iron ore industry that was to be the backbone of
development in the Mahoning Valley.

Contracts were let for half mile sections August 20, 1835 when two
engineers, Dodge and Harris drove iron stakes into te exact center of
the Portage Summit, 1 1/4 miles west of Ravenna. On April 3, 1840 the "
Mohawk " of Beaver and the  
" Tippecanoe " of Warren journeyed the full length of the canal. The
canal officially opened on August 4,1840 amidst much celebration.

The canal route was 82 miles long, 73 1/2 in Ohio, requiring 54 locks
and a lift of 424 feet. 50 of these locks were in Ohio. It required 2
aqueducts, 9 dams and 57 road bridges. Locks were the standard 15 feet
by 90 feet, but unlike most of the locks on the other canals, were built
and finished and dressed stone. A few were the normal composite lock of
rough stone with plank lined chambers and one was entirely wood. Several
feeder canals supplied the canal mainline. These were the Little
Cuyahoga Feeder ( 7 miles ) which was navigable and begun at the feeder
dam in Shalersville, running south to connect with the Pennsylvania &
Ohio just west of Ravenna and requiring three locks and an aqueduct and
the South Feeder ( 9 miles ) which provided extra water to the smmit
level and was navigable for one mile to Muddy Lake and one required
lock.

Akron -- The west terminus was at the Lower Basin on the Ohio & Erie in
south Akron. It stepped down one lock cross the Little Cuyahoga and then
ascended a staircase of nine locks.

Cuyahoga Falls -- From here it ran along the south bank of the Big
Cuyahoga through Monroe Falls and Franklin Mills.

Kent -- It then entered the river itself through the Lower Lock because
the gorge at Kent was too steep. The river provided a slackwater of
about a mile before the canal ascended out of the river at the Upper
Lock, which had a  19 foot rise. The canal then followed the valley of
Breakneck Creek, crossing to its north bank.

Ravenna -- Here the eastern division of the canal entered the valley of
the East Branch of the Mahoning River running along the bank through
Campbell and Newport, crossing to the souh bank just below
McClintocksburg.

Newton Falls -- Here the canal crossed the East Branch on a stone
aqueduct with three 50 foot spans. reaching the valley of the Mahoning,
it followed the south bank.

Warren -- It crossed upon slackwater to the north bank of the river and
traveled along the Niles, Girard, Youngstown, Campbell and Lowellville,
where it entered Pennsylvania, still running along the north bank of the
Mahoning River. It crossed the Shenango River on an aqueduct and joined
the Beaver Division of the Beaver & Erie Canal at the Western Reserve
Basin, 7 miles south of New Castle. PA.

Several problems or obstacles had to be overcome in the construction of
the canal. These, however, were relatively few as the majority of the
route was favorable for the building of a canal. One especially
difficult problem was the steep gorge on the Cuyahoga River at Frankin
Mills. It was decided to deepen and widen the gorge at this point by
blasting. The legendary Cuyahoga Rapids thought to be where Captain
Samuel Brady leaped across the Cuyahoga to escape a group of angry
Indians, was sacrificed and destroyed for the purpose of progress of
this canal.

Work on the canal was stopped in 1837 due to a Cholera epidemic which
killed workers between April 30th and September 15th of that year.
Construction resumed in 1838 with the western division and the branch to
Middlebury finished in 1839.
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to be continued in part 8.