Ohio Canals
Port Middletown Plaza
Canals were built in Ohio to provide a better way to transport goods to the eastern markets. Two major canals were built connecting the Ohio River to Lake Erie - the Ohio Erie & [sic Ohio & Erie] Canal running from Portsmouth to Cleveland and the Miami & Erie Canal from Cincinnati to Toledo.
On July 21, 1825, Governor DeWitt Clinton of New York State broke ground in Middletown for the Miami Canal. Two years later on July 1, 1827, water from the Great Miami River was let into the canal and on July 4 the canal packet boat Samuel Forrer owned by Middletonian Robert E. Campbell made the first trip on the canal.
The 250-mile Miami & Erie Canal was completed in 1845, costing over $8,000,000.
[Ohio map showing major canal routes and reads]
Ohio's two major canals - the Ohio & Erie Canal and the Miami & Erie Canal.
Marker is at the intersection of Central Avenue (Ohio Route 122) and N. Verity Parkway (Ohio Route 73), on the right when traveling west on Central Avenue.
Courtesy hmdb.org
