Ohio-Erie Canal

Ohio-Erie Canal. Canal Park. How Does The Canal System Work? , The Ohio-Erie Canal was constructed with two summit levels: one near Akron in Summit County and the other, the Licking Summit, in Licking and Fairfield Counties. Reservoirs of water were created on both summit levels to provide water for the canal. The canal from Summit County was constructed north towards Lake Erie through Cieveland and to the south towards Muskingum County near Dresden. The Licking Summit went north to Newark in Licking County and then east to Muskingum County and eventually the lowest spot near Dresden where it joined the Summit County descent. The canal had no pumps but rather, the water was moved by gravity with lift locks at elevation changes. These locks lifted or lowered the boats up and down the canal levels acting like an elevator for the boats. Each lock chamber was 90 feet long and 15 feet wide, allowing one boat at a time to enter the lock with usually less that a foot on each side and a short distance fore and aft (meaning front and back in nautical terms). When a boat arrived at a lock, the driver unhitched the tow animals, and then the boat was pulled by crews using "pole pikes" into the lock. The gates were then closed and a valve operated to raise or lower the water level, and in turn the boat., Fats Facts , The Ohio and Erie Canal was 309 miles long and contained 151 locks and 27 aqueducts., The longest aqueduct built on the canal was 448 feet. It crossed the Scioto River just south of Circleville, downstream from the State Route 22 southbound bridge. This aqueduct was destroyed in a fire in 1915., Canal boats traveled at an average speed of 2 mph and provided a faster, easier and cheaper way to transport goods and move people in comparison to hauling in wagons., The minimum dimensions for canals were 40 feet wide at the waterline, 28 feet wide at the bottom and 4 feet deep, but some places they were as wide as 150 feet and 12 feet deep., It took 9 years to build the Ohio-Erie Canal and about a year to build the section in Pickaway County including the aqueduct over the Scioto River South of the City of Circleville., Whiskey was a hot commodity transported on the canal which is where the railroad tract just south of the park on the Pickaway Trail got its name "Whiskey Switch"., Grain, coal, furniture, livestock, salt pork, flour, sugar and furs were frequently transported using the canal system., It took about 3 1/2 days to travel from Cleveland to Portsmouth on a fast packed canal boat (the canal boat was equivalent to today's high speed rail. It did not make many stops and was the fastest way to travel)., Captions: , Map of Circleville Showing the Route of The Canal, The Aqueduct crossing the Scioto River south of Circleville, Rendition of the canal locks like those that originally sat at Canal Park, Map of Circelville Showing the Route of The Canal Through Town, Whiskey Switch- the Location South of the park where the Pickaway Trail Crosses the Canal where goods moved from the Canal to the Railroad and back.