fbpx
Wikipedia

Warren County Canal

April 13, 2024

The Warren County Canal was a branch of the Miami and Erie Canal in southwestern Ohio about 20 miles (32 km) in length that connected the Warren County seat of Lebanon to the main canal at Middletown in the mid-19th century. Lebanon was at the crossroads of two major roads, the highway from Cincinnati to Columbus (later U.S. Route 42) and the road from Chillicothe to the College Township (Oxford), but Lebanon businessmen and civic leaders wanted better transportation facilities and successfully lobbied for their own canal, part of the canal fever of the first third of the 19th century. The Warren County Canal was never successful, operating less than a decade before the state abandoned it.

A sketch of a canalboat by Herbert Fall from circa 1840, about the time the canal operated

History edit

A private company begins edit

 
Governor DeWitt Clinton of New York, who gave Warren County "canal fever" when he visited in 1829

The Miami and Erie Canal was authorized by the Ohio General Assembly in 1825. Work began that same year and the canal was navigable from the Ohio River at Cincinnati to Middletown in December 1827. By April 1830, it was open to Dayton. (The entire length to Lake Erie at Toledo opened in 1845.) New York Governor DeWitt Clinton, who was the driving force behind his state's Erie Canal, came to Ohio in 1829 for the groundbreaking ceremonies of the Miami and Erie Canal, which were held in Middletown. On his trip to the Buckeye State, he visited Lebanon, staying at the Golden Lamb Inn. The village's inhabitants caught the "canal fever" of the day and demanded they too have access to the new waterway. The State quickly obliged.

On February 22, 1830, the Ohio General Assembly incorporated a private corporation to construct and operate the branch to Lebanon, the Warren County Canal Company. The company projected the work would cost $123,861, but work progressed slowly on the canal and the company eventually acknowledged it could not complete it. By the act of February 20, 1836, the General Assembly ordered the Canal Commissioners to take possession of the unfinished canal and to complete it. The State paid the Canal Company 50% of its expenditures to that point; the company had spent $21,742.33. The Canal Commissioners estimated it would take $128,000 to finish the project, a sum which proved inadequate. The State spent a total of $217,552 for both acquiring and completing the branch.

The canal opens edit

 
The Warren County Canal was a spur of the Miami and Erie Canal to Lebanon, the county seat of Warren County, Ohio
 
Location of Warren County, Ohio

The Warren County Canal was made completely navigable in 1840, it having reached Lock 2 near Lebanon on March 15, 1839. The canal, 40 feet (12 m) wide plus a 10-foot-wide (3.0 m) towpath, began at Middletown between Miami and Erie Lock 31 (Dine's) and 32 (Middletown) at Mile 208. (Mile 0 was on Lake Erie at Toledo, Mile 250 was on the Ohio River at Cincinnati.) This site is about 200 feet (61 m) south of the present Central Avenue; Verity Parkway follows the old path of the Miami and Erie (39°30′55.7″N 84°24′08.6″W / 39.515472°N 84.402389°W / 39.515472; -84.402389). The canal was supplied by a feeder off the Miami and Erie Canal 3 miles (4.8 km) north at Mile 205 between Lock 29 (Upper Greenland) and Lock 30 (Lower Greenland), south of the Miami Dam. The canal there consumed water at the rate of 1800 cubic feet per minute (850 L/s) (per Morrow's History) or 2000 cubic feet per minute (940 L/s) (per the Historical and Biographical Cyclopaedia).

From Middletown, the canal went southeast, through the gentle country the Middletown and Cincinnati Railroad would follow decades later, land filled with sand and gravel deposited by the Wisconsinan Glaciation 14,000 to 24,000 years ago.[1] This geology meant the canal leaked considerably. It proceeded through Lemon Township north of the place later called Oakland. Two aqueducts carried the canal over Dick's Creek, near the intersection of Cincinnati-Dayton Road (the Dixie Highway) and Greentree Road, the state road to the College Township (the aqueducts proved too shallow for use by heavily laden canal boats). It crossed from Butler County into Warren County just north of the northern boundary of the Symmes Purchase, a point today in the city limits of Monroe, near Shaker Run.

The canal continued its path southeast into Turtlecreek and Union townships, along the path of Muddy Creek to about where Hagemans Crossing later was on the Cincinnati and Lebanon Pike (U.S. Route 42). There it turned northeast, paralleling Turtle Creek) and crossing it on an aqueduct, approximately the route later taken by the Cincinnati, Lebanon and Northern Railway between Mason and Lebanon. At Lebanon, there was a turning basin in the space bounded by Sycamore Street, South Street, Turtle Creek and Cincinnati Avenue (U.S. Route 42) (approximately 39°25′55″N 84°12′41″W / 39.43194°N 84.21139°W / 39.43194; -84.21139). The canal was fed from water from the North and East Forks of Turtle Creek at Lebanon. The North Fork was dammed by a 100-foot-long (30 m) earth dam to create a 40-acre (16 ha) (per Morrow's History) to 45-acre (18 ha) reservoir (per Bogen's "Warren County Canal").

Lebanon was 44 feet (13 m) above the elevation of the Miami and Erie Canal at Middletown. Six locks, each 90 feet (27 m) long and 15 feet (4.6 m) wide, were necessary to overcome this. Lock 1 was at the foot of Clay Street in Lebanon. Lock 2 was a short distance downstream, still in Lebanon. Lock 3 was about a mile (2 km) southwest of Lebanon near Glosser Road and Turtle Creek. Lock 4 was about 3 miles (5 km) southwest of Lebanon near the confluence of Muddy Creek and Turtle Creek and what was later Hillcrest and Hagemans Crossing. These locks raised and lowered boats a total of 28 feet (8.5 m). At Lock 3, Joseph Whitehill, later Ohio State Treasurer, operated a grist mill, having purchased water power from the State.

Lock 5 was near the intersection of Greentree and Cincinnati-Dayton Roads, where the feeder canal from the Miami and Erie Canal entered. Lock 6 was at Middletown, near where the canal debouched into the Miami and Erie Canal. These two locks raised and lowered boats the remaining 16 feet (5 m), 8 feet (2 m) by each lock.

Shaker Run wrecks the canal edit

In 1848 the stream Shaker Run forever damaged the canal. Shaker Run, in western Turtlecreek Township, drained the large swamp on the Shaker settlement at Union Village. The stream frequently jumped its banks and flooded the canal, depositing sediment that required constant dredging and repairs. Finally, Shaker Run broke through the canal's embankment.

In 1852, John W. Erwin, the resident engineer of the Miami and Erie Canal, investigated repairs to the canal by direction of the General Assembly, that body having requested an estimate of the cost of repairs and an opinion on whether the canal should be abandoned.[2] He submitted a report to the State Board of Public Works which estimated $31,613, would be needed to repair the Warren County Canal. Of that sum, $16,896 was needed just for dredging. Because the canal had been little used, the State declined to repair it. In the General Assembly, Representative Durbin Ward of Lebanon introduced legislation to abandon the "Lebanon Ditch." In 1854, the state sold the remnants for $40,000 to John W. Corwin and R.H. Henderson.

The large stones of the locks were used in local buildings, especially the Lebanon Opera House, which burned on Christmas Day, 1932 and occupied the site of the present Lebanon City Hall at Broadway and Main Street. Other stones were used in the bridge across the North Fork. The reservoir on the North Fork of Turtle Creek collapsed in a violent rainstorm on July 10, 1882, causing much damage in Lebanon, including washing out the bridge on Broadway over Turtle Creek.[3] The site was later taken over by the French Bauer Dairy. After it closed around 1970, the City of Lebanon acquired the land, eventually turning it into Colonial Park.

Little remains of the canal today, chiefly a few ditches on State Route 63 in Turtlecreek Township east of Monroe near the Lebanon Correctional Institution and Warren Correctional Institution.

Notes edit

  1. ^ "Glacial Map of Ohio" (PDF). Ohio Department of Natural Resources. Retrieved 2012-08-20.
  2. ^ "Reminiscences". The Western Star. 1911-03-16. Retrieved 2007-10-27.
  3. ^ Bogan, Dallas (2004-08-26). "Lebanon's Greatest Flood Occurred In July, 1882". Retrieved 2007-10-27.

References edit

  • Elva R. Adams. Warren County Revisited. Lebanon, Ohio: Warren County Historical Society, 1989.
  • Dallas Bogen. "The Warren County Canal". Originally appeared in The Western Star (Lebanon, Ohio). 1976.
  • Dallas Bogen. "Lebanon's Greatest Flood Occurred In July, 1882".
  • The Centennial Atlas of Warren County, Ohio. Lebanon, Ohio: The Centennial Atlas Association, 1903.
  • George C. Crout. The Economic Development of Middletown, Ohio, 1796–1865., , Masters thesis, 1941.
  • Jack Gieck. A Photo Album of Ohio's Canal Era, 1825–1913. Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press, 1988. ISBN 0-87338-353-2
  • A History and Biographical Cyclopaedia of Butler County, Ohio with Illustrations and Sketches of Its Representative Men and Pioneers. Pages 146–151, Cincinnati, Ohio: Western Biographical Publishing Company, 1882.
  • Josiah Morrow. The History of Warren County, Ohio. pages 287–289 Chicago: W.H. Beers, 1883. Reprinted several times
  • William E. Smith. History of Southwestern Ohio: The Miami Valleys. New York: Lewis Historical Publishing, 1964. 3 vols.
  • Vic Verity. The Miami Canal from Cincinnati to Dayton and Warren County Canal. Oberlin, Ohio: Canal Society of Ohio, 1977.

April 13, 2024
warren, county, canal, branch, miami, erie, canal, southwestern, ohio, about, miles, length, that, connected, warren, county, seat, lebanon, main, canal, middletown, 19th, century, lebanon, crossroads, major, roads, highway, from, cincinnati, columbus, later, . The Warren County Canal was a branch of the Miami and Erie Canal in southwestern Ohio about 20 miles 32 km in length that connected the Warren County seat of Lebanon to the main canal at Middletown in the mid 19th century Lebanon was at the crossroads of two major roads the highway from Cincinnati to Columbus later U S Route 42 and the road from Chillicothe to the College Township Oxford but Lebanon businessmen and civic leaders wanted better transportation facilities and successfully lobbied for their own canal part of the canal fever of the first third of the 19th century The Warren County Canal was never successful operating less than a decade before the state abandoned it A sketch of a canalboat by Herbert Fall from circa 1840 about the time the canal operated Contents 1 History 1 1 A private company begins 1 2 The canal opens 1 3 Shaker Run wrecks the canal 2 Notes 3 ReferencesHistory editA private company begins edit nbsp Governor DeWitt Clinton of New York who gave Warren County canal fever when he visited in 1829The Miami and Erie Canal was authorized by the Ohio General Assembly in 1825 Work began that same year and the canal was navigable from the Ohio River at Cincinnati to Middletown in December 1827 By April 1830 it was open to Dayton The entire length to Lake Erie at Toledo opened in 1845 New York Governor DeWitt Clinton who was the driving force behind his state s Erie Canal came to Ohio in 1829 for the groundbreaking ceremonies of the Miami and Erie Canal which were held in Middletown On his trip to the Buckeye State he visited Lebanon staying at the Golden Lamb Inn The village s inhabitants caught the canal fever of the day and demanded they too have access to the new waterway The State quickly obliged On February 22 1830 the Ohio General Assembly incorporated a private corporation to construct and operate the branch to Lebanon the Warren County Canal Company The company projected the work would cost 123 861 but work progressed slowly on the canal and the company eventually acknowledged it could not complete it By the act of February 20 1836 the General Assembly ordered the Canal Commissioners to take possession of the unfinished canal and to complete it The State paid the Canal Company 50 of its expenditures to that point the company had spent 21 742 33 The Canal Commissioners estimated it would take 128 000 to finish the project a sum which proved inadequate The State spent a total of 217 552 for both acquiring and completing the branch The canal opens edit nbsp The Warren County Canal was a spur of the Miami and Erie Canal to Lebanon the county seat of Warren County Ohio nbsp Location of Warren County OhioThe Warren County Canal was made completely navigable in 1840 it having reached Lock 2 near Lebanon on March 15 1839 The canal 40 feet 12 m wide plus a 10 foot wide 3 0 m towpath began at Middletown between Miami and Erie Lock 31 Dine s and 32 Middletown at Mile 208 Mile 0 was on Lake Erie at Toledo Mile 250 was on the Ohio River at Cincinnati This site is about 200 feet 61 m south of the present Central Avenue Verity Parkway follows the old path of the Miami and Erie 39 30 55 7 N 84 24 08 6 W 39 515472 N 84 402389 W 39 515472 84 402389 The canal was supplied by a feeder off the Miami and Erie Canal 3 miles 4 8 km north at Mile 205 between Lock 29 Upper Greenland and Lock 30 Lower Greenland south of the Miami Dam The canal there consumed water at the rate of 1800 cubic feet per minute 850 L s per Morrow s History or 2000 cubic feet per minute 940 L s per the Historical and Biographical Cyclopaedia From Middletown the canal went southeast through the gentle country the Middletown and Cincinnati Railroad would follow decades later land filled with sand and gravel deposited by the Wisconsinan Glaciation 14 000 to 24 000 years ago 1 This geology meant the canal leaked considerably It proceeded through Lemon Township north of the place later called Oakland Two aqueducts carried the canal over Dick s Creek near the intersection of Cincinnati Dayton Road the Dixie Highway and Greentree Road the state road to the College Township the aqueducts proved too shallow for use by heavily laden canal boats It crossed from Butler County into Warren County just north of the northern boundary of the Symmes Purchase a point today in the city limits of Monroe near Shaker Run The canal continued its path southeast into Turtlecreek and Union townships along the path of Muddy Creek to about where Hagemans Crossing later was on the Cincinnati and Lebanon Pike U S Route 42 There it turned northeast paralleling Turtle Creek and crossing it on an aqueduct approximately the route later taken by the Cincinnati Lebanon and Northern Railway between Mason and Lebanon At Lebanon there was a turning basin in the space bounded by Sycamore Street South Street Turtle Creek and Cincinnati Avenue U S Route 42 approximately 39 25 55 N 84 12 41 W 39 43194 N 84 21139 W 39 43194 84 21139 The canal was fed from water from the North and East Forks of Turtle Creek at Lebanon The North Fork was dammed by a 100 foot long 30 m earth dam to create a 40 acre 16 ha per Morrow s History to 45 acre 18 ha reservoir per Bogen s Warren County Canal Lebanon was 44 feet 13 m above the elevation of the Miami and Erie Canal at Middletown Six locks each 90 feet 27 m long and 15 feet 4 6 m wide were necessary to overcome this Lock 1 was at the foot of Clay Street in Lebanon Lock 2 was a short distance downstream still in Lebanon Lock 3 was about a mile 2 km southwest of Lebanon near Glosser Road and Turtle Creek Lock 4 was about 3 miles 5 km southwest of Lebanon near the confluence of Muddy Creek and Turtle Creek and what was later Hillcrest and Hagemans Crossing These locks raised and lowered boats a total of 28 feet 8 5 m At Lock 3 Joseph Whitehill later Ohio State Treasurer operated a grist mill having purchased water power from the State Lock 5 was near the intersection of Greentree and Cincinnati Dayton Roads where the feeder canal from the Miami and Erie Canal entered Lock 6 was at Middletown near where the canal debouched into the Miami and Erie Canal These two locks raised and lowered boats the remaining 16 feet 5 m 8 feet 2 m by each lock Shaker Run wrecks the canal edit In 1848 the stream Shaker Run forever damaged the canal Shaker Run in western Turtlecreek Township drained the large swamp on the Shaker settlement at Union Village The stream frequently jumped its banks and flooded the canal depositing sediment that required constant dredging and repairs Finally Shaker Run broke through the canal s embankment In 1852 John W Erwin the resident engineer of the Miami and Erie Canal investigated repairs to the canal by direction of the General Assembly that body having requested an estimate of the cost of repairs and an opinion on whether the canal should be abandoned 2 He submitted a report to the State Board of Public Works which estimated 31 613 would be needed to repair the Warren County Canal Of that sum 16 896 was needed just for dredging Because the canal had been little used the State declined to repair it In the General Assembly Representative Durbin Ward of Lebanon introduced legislation to abandon the Lebanon Ditch In 1854 the state sold the remnants for 40 000 to John W Corwin and R H Henderson The large stones of the locks were used in local buildings especially the Lebanon Opera House which burned on Christmas Day 1932 and occupied the site of the present Lebanon City Hall at Broadway and Main Street Other stones were used in the bridge across the North Fork The reservoir on the North Fork of Turtle Creek collapsed in a violent rainstorm on July 10 1882 causing much damage in Lebanon including washing out the bridge on Broadway over Turtle Creek 3 The site was later taken over by the French Bauer Dairy After it closed around 1970 the City of Lebanon acquired the land eventually turning it into Colonial Park Little remains of the canal today chiefly a few ditches on State Route 63 in Turtlecreek Township east of Monroe near the Lebanon Correctional Institution and Warren Correctional Institution Notes edit Glacial Map of Ohio PDF Ohio Department of Natural Resources Retrieved 2012 08 20 Reminiscences The Western Star 1911 03 16 Retrieved 2007 10 27 Bogan Dallas 2004 08 26 Lebanon s Greatest Flood Occurred In July 1882 Retrieved 2007 10 27 References editElva R Adams Warren County Revisited Lebanon Ohio Warren County Historical Society 1989 Dallas Bogen The Warren County Canal Originally appeared in The Western Star Lebanon Ohio 1976 Dallas Bogen Lebanon s Greatest Flood Occurred In July 1882 The Centennial Atlas of Warren County Ohio Lebanon Ohio The Centennial Atlas Association 1903 George C Crout The Economic Development of Middletown Ohio 1796 1865 chapter 4 Masters thesis 1941 Jack Gieck A Photo Album of Ohio s Canal Era 1825 1913 Kent Ohio Kent State University Press 1988 ISBN 0 87338 353 2 A History and Biographical Cyclopaedia of Butler County Ohio with Illustrations and Sketches of Its Representative Men and Pioneers Pages 146 151 Cincinnati Ohio Western Biographical Publishing Company 1882 Josiah Morrow The History of Warren County Ohio pages 287 289 Chicago W H Beers 1883 Reprinted several times William E Smith History of Southwestern Ohio The Miami Valleys New York Lewis Historical Publishing 1964 3 vols Vic Verity The Miami Canal from Cincinnati to Dayton and Warren County Canal Oberlin Ohio Canal Society of Ohio 1977 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Warren County Canal amp oldid 1195736589, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

article

, read, download, free, free download, mp3, video, mp4, 3gp, jpg, jpeg, gif, png, picture, music, song, movie, book, game, games.