There were quite a few navigable branch and feeder canals in the Ohio Canal System. Some were extremely profitable, others were never finished or were of little use in the scheme of things. Below you will find a list of branch and feeder canals and information about some of the lesser known of these canals.
Ohio & Erie Feeder and Branch Canals |
Miami & Erie Feeder & Branch Canals |
| Ohio City Canal
Middlebury Branch Cuyahoga Feeder South Feeder |
Gilead Sidecut
Grand Reservoir ( St. Marys ) Feeder Central Ohio |
This 3 mile long canal with 2 locks ran from Huron to Fries
Landing on the Huron River from where it was navigable to Lake
Erie, bringing prosperity into the wheat growing region of Milan.
It opened in 1840 with a mile long ship canal that opened up
Milan as an interior port. Milan became second only to the
Russian Port of Odessa in the export of wheat. The development of
the canal greaty increased the export of the areas products,
mainly wheat and flour to other regions of the country. The canal
basin was formed by damming the Huron River. This provided enough
water to supply the whole canal and operate the locks. In May of
1847 a line of wagons waiting to unload into canal boats was 6
miles long. 35,000 bushel of produce were handled in that one
day. Exports of wheat rose from 4,000 bushel before 1840 to 1.6
million bushel in 1847. This example alone is proof of how the
canals in Ohio helped the economic growth of a poor state into a
prosperous state with links to markets in both the east and west
of a fast growing and expanding country.
This small canal was not closed until a devastating flood in
1868.
The community of Ohio City across from Cleveland, incorporated in 1836 authorized the building of a canal to promote the growth for their community. It entered the Cuyahoga River opposite the outlet of the Ohio & Erie Canal. It attracted warehouses and docks to its side of the river. Ohio City was soon to be absorbed into the fast growing City of Cleveland.
Providing access to the Miami & Erie Canal for the town of Gilead, now Grand Rapids, it was 2/10 of a mile long with no locks or rise.
This canal was most profitable economically to the German religious community of Zoar but was also ultimately to be the reason for the demise of the religious sect. It was built by the Zoarites inorder to avoid foreclosure on their property and connected the town of Zoar with the Ohio & Erie Canal. Due directly to the influence of the canal the community built up a good wheat, flour and iron ore industry and even purchased some canal boats of its own. However, the influx of new people from the canal business to the community brought with it diseases, such as cholera, that had until this time been unknown in the community, and the prosperity of these people caused dissension amongst the members of the sect and then to its demise.
the Town of Canton proposed the building of a canal along the Nimishellen River and Sandy Creek to join it with the Sandy & Beaver Canal. A furrow was dug along the route that was wide and deep enough for small craft and enthusiasm was high. However, due to the the fact that the stream was too small to supply the required water and too swift, the canal never came to fruition and thousands of dollars were lost. There would have been more locks per mile on the canal than any other existing canal at the time because the drop in the short distance from Canton to the Sandy Creek was so great.
This sidecut entered the Ohio & Erie Canal at Webbsport, connecting the Muskingham River Improvement with the canal at Dresden. It had an aqueduct over Watakomica Creek, was 3 miles long with 3 locks with a total rise of 29 feet.
Near Millersport on the Licking Summit it was 6 miles long with one lift lock of 10 feet rise and one guard lock.
These two sidecuts were near the mouth of the Maumee River and caused a great competition between the two communities. Both Toledo and Maumee were to have sidecuts from the Miami & Erie Canal to the Maumee River giving them both direct access to lake Erie. The direct river access was not used much due to the inability to control the canal boats in the currents of the Maumee River. As with the southern terminus in Cincinnati cargo was offloaded and transshipped to the Lake.
The Toledo (Swan Creek) Sidecut was 1 mile long with 2 locks
having a total rise of 15 feet.
One of three northern termini of the Miami & Erie Canal the
Toledo sidecut, by 1871, was the sole northern terminus for the
canal due to acts of the legislature that closed the Manhattan
Extension and the main canal north of Swan Creek in 1864 and 1871
and the Maumee Sidecut in 1864.
The Maumee Sidecut was 1 1/2 miles long with 6 locks having a total rise of 63 feet. It left the main channel 8 1/2 miles south of the head of the Toledo Sidecut and "locked" into the Maumee River at a point directly across from Perrysburg. A rock bar allowing only shallow river traffic to travel the sidecut led to the decision in 1864 to abandon the connection to the river.
The Sidney feeder was 14 miles long with no locks or rise. It followed the Great Miami River from Loramie Creek through Sidney to Port Jefferson. A dam across the river at Port Jefferson fed the feeder. Lewiston Reservoir, now Indian Lake, was created at the head of the Great Miami and became the principal water source for the summit. The water flowed down the river for 18 miles where it entered the feeder at Port Jefferson..
Begun on April 20, 1827, this 12 mile long feeder which connected Columbus with the main line of the Ohio & Erie canal took 4 years to complete. Water supply came from a dam across the Scioto River in Columbus with several locks. It joined the Ohio & Erie at Lockbourne through 8 locks. the first mile of the canal was built by convicts from the State Penitentiary. The first boat along the canal, the "Governor Brown" traveled the canal on September 23, 1831.
Three miles long with one guard lock and no rise.
This feeder was designed to tap the resources of several
natural springs and the Beaver Creek, allowing some 50 miles of
the Miami Extension to be supplied with water in the dry season.
Started in 1837 it was a long process that met with great
controversy from the local residents. It was to become that
largest man-made body of water in the world at that time. It
covered more than 15,748 acres and spanned from 9miles long to 2
to 5 miles wide. It was formed by building dams or large
embankments across the eastern and western ends of a natural
valley. Between 10 and 20 feet high these embankments were
finished in 1842 and the valley was finally closed. With 4,000
acres of low lying swampy land and the rest timbered the original
plan was to clear all the trees in the valley before filling the
reservoir. However, the legislature felt that it was an
unnecessary expense and ceased all clearing. In the spring of
1843 the reservoir was allowed to fill with water.
In an effort to bring attention to the half submerged, rotting
timber local residents caused a breach in the western embankment
that drained the reservoir. Damages cost the State $17,000 and
commerce was reduced on the canal until the reservoir refilled.
Eventually the State had the trees sawed off at the water line,
creating an unseen hazzard to boats and fisherman on the
reservoir. The tree stumps were not removed until recent times
and the reservoir is now a very productive recreational area.
The feeder itself from the reservoir to the canal was 3 miles
long and entered the canal between locks #11 & #12 at St.
Marys. The feeder was navigable and a wooden lock in the eastern
embankment of the reservoir allowed canal traffic and boats to be
lifted to lake level and to travel the reservoir to Celina and
Montezuma. There was no towpath along the lake and therefore,
canal crews were required to take their animals on board and to
use long poles to navigate the reservoir. The wooden lock was
replaced in 1852 with one built of Dayton stone. A return feeder
was constructed the same year between locks # 6 & # 7 to
return excess canal water to the reservoir.
6/10 of a mile long with no locks or rise.
Copyright © 1997 Wendy J. Adkins