CANAL CELEBRATION - 175 YEARS LATER
The canal route through Waverly will once again be flourishing with business. To commemorate the opening of the Ohio and Erie Canal through Waverly in 1832, the Pike County Convention and Visitors Bureau will be hosting a 175th Canal Anniversary Celebration on Saturday. (Sept. 29, 2007)
Waverly was founded in 1829, along the Ohio Erie Canal. The canal was more than 300 miles long, connecting Lake Erie to the Ohio River.
Waverly was originally named Union, a name claimed by several Ohio communities. An engineer on the Ohio Erie Canal, Francis Cleveland, was reading Sir Walter Scott's Waverly Novels and suggested the name Waverly.
The growth of Waverly was generated from the canal as well as James Emmitt. Emmitt was the town's first entrepreneur, making most of his fortune from canal activities. Emmitt's influence remains prevalent throughout Waverly's historic buildings and streets. Due to the canal's popularity, the Pike County Courthouse was moved from Piketon to Waverly in 1861. The decision to move the county seat resulted from the location of the Ohio Erie Canal. In later years, the railroad became a prominent means of transporting goods and the need for the canal diminished.
Although the canal is now history, many remnants of the canal are visible throughout various sections of Waverly and Pike County. During the anniversary celebration, members of the community will be giving bus tours of the canal route and canal remnants. the tours will begin at the Pike County Courthouse at 11 a.m. Saturday and will be held at the top of every hour.
The anniversary's agenda includes a multitude of displays, presentations, exhibits and tours, ranging from an old-fashioned breakfast to old time music, canal displays to quilt displays and historic tours to carriage rides including a guided tour of Bethel Cemetery located at 2696 Sunfish Creek Road. The cemetery tour will be narrated by people in costume, who represents one of the deceased individual buried in the cemetery.
The event will conclude with a Canal Ball at the Emmitt House. The ball will feature the "Forget-Me-Not Dance Troupe." Although period dress is preferred, it is not required.
Waverly News Watchman
Sept 2007
Copyright © 2007
Pike Co. Genealogy & Historical Society
P. O. Box 224, Waverly, Ohio 45690