OHIO & ERIE CANAL
HISTORICAL MARKER TO RECOGNIZE OHIO & ERIE CANAL
For 68 years the Ohio and Erie Canal served as the only economic way to transport goods from the Great Lakes to New Orleans.
The canal was open from 1832 until 1900, and it connected the Great Lakes to the Ohio River, opening new markets along its path. The canal, which remains a lasting legacy in Pike County, will soon have a historical marker to recognize its trail.
In order to open the country west of the Appalachian Mountains to settlers and to offer a cheap and safe way to carry produce to a market, in 1808, Governor Dewitt Clinton proposed the construction of the canal. However, it was not until July 4, 1817 that Governor Clinton finally broke ground for the construction of the canal. It was completed on October 26, 1825, and was the biggest engineering marvel of its day. It included 18 aqueducts to carry the canal over ravines and rivers, and 83 locks, with a rise of 568 feet from the Hudson River to Lake Erie. It was 4 feet deep and 40 feet wide and floated boats carrying 30 tons of freight. A ten-foot wide towpath was built along the bank of the canal for horses, mules, and oxen led by a boy boat driver or "hoggee". Bristol Village, a large retirement community in operation for over forty years, owns the area where the marker will be placed. The placement will be where the canal turns away from State Route 335. The marker will be at the beginning of the road leading to the soon to be completed ball playing fields.
According to a press release from the Pike County Chamber of Commerce, the marker has been approved by the Ohio Historical Society and the cost will be incurred by both the Pike County Convention and Visitors Bureau and National Church Residences, Bristol Village's parent company.
During its tenure, the canal cut a path directly down the center of Pike County. The main street and the canal paralleled each other through downtown Waverly, where today only a fraction of the canal remains throughout the state of Ohio, including one portion of an old lock near State Route 104 in Jasper.
The dedication would have been most "propitious" during the Bicentennial year according to the release.
The maker is on hand, but the site has not yet been prepared for the installation. An interim dedication will take place on Friday, November 14, (2006) at 3:00 p.m at the Activity Center of Bristol Village. A grand ceremony will take place when the dedication for the marker is made at its permanent location.
Waverly News Watchman
Nov. 2006
Copyright © 2007
Pike Co. Genealogy & Historical Society
P. O. Box 224, Waverly, Ohio 45690