The Ohio & Erie Canal is an early 19th-century creation built to meet growing transportation needs. The Towpath Trail is a late 20th-century creation, built because visionary individuals saw new uses for the abandoned canal. One of these . . . — — Map (db m224613) HM
The Cuyahoga River is a symbol of what’s possible when people work together for clean water. As an industrial river flowing through Akron and Cleveland, it became internationally famous for its pollution. Today the river is a water trail and the . . . — — Map (db m202355) HM
The village of Boston grew up along the Cuyahoga River. After the Ohio & Erie Canal opened in 1827, the community boomed with boatyards and businesses serving canal traffic. The Valley Railway opened in 1880 and spurred construction of the . . . — — Map (db m202357) HM
An 1834 survey map provides the earliest evidence of a bridge crossing the Cuyahoga River at this site. This rendering, based on a 1890's postcard, shows a covered bridge connecting the Akron-Cleveland Road (now Riverview Road) to the village of . . . — — Map (db m48996) HM
The size and shape of a canal boat is determined by the smallest lock. Along the Ohio & Erie Canal the smallest is 75 feet long by 15 feet wide.
Workers begin building a boat by laying the keel. Made from white oak timbers, the keel forms . . . — — Map (db m202373) HM
William Barnhart and James Fayerweather’s boatyard is humming with activity. Shipwrights enclose the hull of a canal boat with white-oak boards from Julius Edson’s sawmill and lumberyard. The blacksmith, R. Darmer, makes deadeye rings for canal . . . — — Map (db m202372) HM
Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad follows the historic route of the Valley Railway, which began freight and passenger service between Cleveland and Canton in 1880. Today, you can travel the same path to experience the rich cultural history and . . . — — Map (db m44906) HM
Boston’s economy boomed building canal boats. Later it shifted to making toy marbles and then paper. If you were standing here in the early 1900s, the photo below shows what you would have seen. Across the Cuyahoga River stood the Cleveland-Akron . . . — — Map (db m202378) HM
Boston and its citizens experienced booms and busts. Entrepreneur Julius Edson built a business empire that included a sawmill, a gristmill, and major land parcels. By 1856 he also had gained a controlling interest in the 20-year-old Boston Land . . . — — Map (db m202374) HM
The Ohio & Erie Canalway celebrates the first 110 miles of a waterway that helped the nation grow.
Dug by hand from 1825 to 1832, the Ohio & Erie Canal was the first canal west of the Appalachian Mountains. It connected Lake Erie to the Ohio . . . — — Map (db m202381) HM
Efforts to preserve Cuyahoga Valley began in the 1920s with new county park systems around Cleveland and Akron. After World War II, major suburban development projects threatened the valley. Construction of interstate highways was followed by power . . . — — Map (db m202353) HM
When the Valley Railroad opened in 1880, the industrial cities of Cleveland and Akron became a short train-ride away. This new transportation allowed industries to locate in the countryside, where there was room to build sprawling factories. . . . — — Map (db m202358) HM
The first steam engine chugged its way down the new Valley Railway in 1880, beginning an era of progress for the Cuyahoga Valley. Regional industrial growth boosted demand for coal and other raw materials. The railway connected mineral fields in the . . . — — Map (db m202350) HM
Since the 1800s, the Cuyahoga Valley has been a place where people from nearby cities relax in nature. Building on this tradition, locals worked tirelessly to preserve what is now Cuyahoga Valley National Park. Created in 1974, the park protects . . . — — Map (db m202382) HM
