Trade at the Canal Basin

Trade at the Canal Basin. . , In 1831, 7,065 passengers came to Dayton from Cincinnati via the Miami Erie Canal. Dayton then had a population of about 3,000. In the same year, Dayton shipped 59,550 barrels of flour, 5,602 barrels of whiskey, 563,000 pounds of bulk bacon and pork, and 344 barrels of linseed oil., The Miami Erie Canal continued to be used to export heavy tonnage even after the arrival of the railroad. In one year during the late 1870s, 23,167 bushels of corn, 104,130 bushels of oats, 33,530,000 pounds of ice, 67,000 pounds of machinery, and 148,000 pounds of paper cleared the port of Dayton. The factory products shipped from Dayton provide evidence of the extent of industrialization since the 1830s., [Caption:] , Left image: Canal Basin photographed in the late nineteenth century looking northwest from Canal Street to Second Street. Logs are piled up on the dock, ready for export. Right image: Major nineteenth century canals in Ohio. Upon the completion of the Miami Erie Canal, goods could be transported from Dayton north via the Miami Erie Canal, Lake Erie, and the Erie Canal to New York, considerably reducing distance and travel time.