When Ohio became a state in 1803, transportation to and within the state was difficult; settlers largely moved themselves and their goods on rivers and Lake Erie, for most roads were poor. In addition, Ohio was geographically separated from the East Coast by the barrier of the
Appalachian Mountains. This made life difficult for early citizens because goods from the Atlantic Coast and Europe were difficult to obtain and often very expensive due to transportation costs. For the same reasons, it was difficult for Ohio businessmen and farmers to sell their products to markets outside the state. Some entrepreneurs began to ship goods from Ohio down the
Ohio River to
New Orleans, by sailing ship and keelboats, but the journey was long and costly. Even after steamboats arrived, it was difficult to return vessels upriver. High shipping costs severely limited trade and population growth in the state, especially in areas far from natural waterways such as
Lake Erie or the
Ohio River, which bounded the state on the north and south, respectively. To overcome these obstacles, many people, including
George Washington and several other politicians, expressed early support for a national canal system to connect many of the country's waterways. In 1807, Senator
Thomas Worthington of Ohio (who later became governor) asked the Secretary of the Treasury for funds to improve roads and build canals in Ohio, yet did not have much success. The Ohio House and Senate had worked for two decades to pass legislation authorizing a canal, gaining success with the Act of February 4, 1825, which finally approved the construction of the Ohio canal system. The canal was largely state-funded, using money acquired from selling off land near where the canals were to be dug. The state government planned and built two canals in the state: the Miami and Erie Canal, from Cincinnati to Toledo, connecting the Ohio River and Lake Erie; and the
Ohio and Erie Canal, which connected Cleveland, another lake port, to
Portsmouth, Ohio, on the Ohio River. This system provided the interior of Ohio with new travel routes that effectively extended to the major Atlantic port of
New York City, as merchants could ship goods through Lake Erie, the Erie Canal, and the Hudson River to New York.
Construction Because Ohio is not entirely flat, the system of locks had to be designed to act as a staircase so boats could navigate the difference in elevation. To supply water for the canal, manmade reservoirs such as
Grand Lake St. Marys and
Lake Loramie in
Shelby County were constructed, along with several feeder canals.
Indian Lake in
Logan County was greatly enlarged to provide a steadier supply of water for the Sidney feeder canal. Branch canals were built to serve as extensions from the main canal. The
Warren County Canal, was a branch canal constructed from the Miami and Erie Canal at
Middletown to
Lebanon. This branch was opened in 1840, but remained in operation less than 15 years before being abandoned. A short branch, the
Sidney or
Port Jefferson feeder canal ran up the Miami Valley from
Lockington through Sidney to a dam just upstream from Port Jefferson. The following list includes measurement standards for the canal, although these varied by region of the state. • water depth. • wide at water level. • wide towpath in addition to mandated outer slopes. • All slopes are horizontal to . perpendicular. • The canal could accommodate boats up to long and wide. From 1920 to 1925, six million dollars was spent to use the bed of the canal to build a downtown subway in Cincinnati. The surface was later paved over to form Central Parkway, as funds ran out before the
Cincinnati Subway could be completed. In the central and northern regions, a large portion of the canal was destroyed when it was filled in to create parts of I-75,
U.S. Route 24, and
State Route 25. Some smaller portions of right-of-way have been converted to bike trails for recreational and local commuting use.
Legacy on the far side. The canal is wide enough to permit two barges to pass. Although urban development has destroyed most vestiges of the canal, some locks and sections of the waterway have survived. One of the original locks (#17) is located in the
Carillon Historical Park in
Dayton. An unrestored but complete lock (#15) is located just off Main Street (State Route 571) in
Tipp City. Remains of the Excello lock are located in the
Butler County Excello Locks Park near the intersection of State Route 73 and South Hamilton Middletown Road in
Lemon Township. The massive west abutment of the Old Nine-mile Aqueduct over the Great Miami River is still present approximately upstream of the Taylorsville Dam east of Vandalia (Montgomery County). The abutment terminates a fairly intact canal segment that extends at least north to Tipp City. This segment includes an intact concrete weir near the abandoned Vandalia water treatment plant (aka "Tadmore Station") and a ruined lock (#16, "Picayune") about halfway to Tipp City along Canal Road. On the canal's southern end, a drained section is located in
St. Bernard, Ohio's Ludlow Park, where the canal bed is still visible. The canal remains in water (and navigable for canoes or kayaks) in the rural region between
Delphos and
St. Marys, Ohio. South of St. Mary's, it has degraded to form a shallow ditch in most places, with some ruined locks remaining. From north to south along
State Route 66, sections of the original canal are visible in Delphos, at a small historic park located at the
Deep Cut in
Spencerville, Lock Two (a hamlet mostly consisting of period brick buildings),
New Bremen,
Minster,
Fort Loramie, and
Piqua. The
Miami and Erie Canal Deep Cut was designated in 1964 as a U.S.
National Historic Landmark near Spencerville. The Piqua Historical Area features a replica canal boat and other related items.
Anthony Wayne Trail (part of
U.S. Route 24 and
State Route 25) in and around
Toledo, originally named Canal Boulevard, was built on the canal right-of-way, and various relics of the canal survive along the corridor.
"Over the Rhine" The historically
German-American neighborhood in Cincinnati north of the canal is known as "
Over the Rhine", based on a local nickname of the canal after the river
Rhine in
Germany. traveler
Ferenc Pulszky wrote in his 1853 book
White, Red, Black, in which wrote, "The Germans live all together across the Miami Canal, which is, therefore, here jocosely called the 'Rhine.' "{{Cite book ==Cities and towns along the canal==