Entertainment & Lifestyle

CVNP — When you go to Canal Visitor Center in Cuyahoga Valley National Park (CVNP) or Mustill Store in Akron, they may feel familiar, despite their historic character.

Both sit next to locks along the Ohio & Erie Canal: Canal Visitor Center is adjacent to Lock 38, and Mustill Store to Lock 15. Their familiarity comes from the role they played during the canal era.

This map shows the canal system in 1860.

Photo courtesy of National Park Service

Like fast-food restaurants and highway interchanges, the buildings were businesses where canal travelers could stop for sustenance, in this case while they waited for their boat to pass through a lock. At Canal Visitor Center, the Gleason family ran a general store and tavern. In their store, the Mustill family sold groceries and operated a bar.

The analogy to the interstate system goes further than explaining canal-side businesses. Before roads and trains, the nation developed its first interstate system using water. Canals linked to rivers and the Great Lakes, allowing travel across the country that had not been before possible. While the canal system largely has been replaced by new forms of transportation, they have been rediscovered for recreation and history exploration. You can find plenty of places to go to both locally and throughout the canal system.

Because canals formed our first interstate system, they played a nationally significant role in the development of our country. Honoring this significance, many remnants are protected by the National Park System and through federal designation as national heritage areas. The map accompanying this article shows the canal system in 1860. Most canals fell into one of three categories: canals that crossed the Appalachians, Midwestern canals and Eastern canals. Feeder canals into the main canals expanded the system. This article highlights canals in each category that have federal designation and opportunities to visit.

Crossing the Appalachians was a primary challenge of the canal system. In the end, only one canal was fully successful — the Erie Canal, which opened in 1825. Its route across New York from the Hudson River to Lake Erie took advantage of an easier route across the mountains. Nevertheless, canal engineers still needed to design solutions to manage the terrain. One can be seen in Lockport, where two five-lock staircases climb the steep Niagara escarpment.

Today, the Erie Canal and its feeders are part of a national heritage area, the Erie Canalway (www.eriecanal way.org). It still has more than 500 miles of navigable waterways, making canal cruises possible. Cycling is available along the 365-mile Erie Canalway Trail.

The Chesapeake & Ohio Canal also was planned to cross the Appalachians from Washington, D.C, to the Ohio River in Pittsburgh. Falling short despite 22 years of construction, it terminated in Cumberland, Md. Today, it is the centerpiece of the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal National Historical Park (www.nps.gov/ choh). Things to do there include riding a canal boat and bicycling the 185-mile towpath. Overnight camping in the park and accommodations in nearby towns allow you to plan a trip that takes in the entire canal.

Crossing the Appalachians created connections between regions of the country that were central to the canal system’s importance. The U.S. economy had been dependent on colonial trade routes with Europe. The canal system emerged when America’s first Industrial Revolution began in New England in the 1820s and 1830s. With the canal system, the manufacturers and merchants could look to the country’s internal resources and markets. This is why the Midwestern canals became important. The Erie Canal stopped at the edge of the Midwest. It was the Midwestern canals that reached into the heartland.

The Ohio & Erie Canal, which opened in Northeast Ohio in 1827 and along its full length to the Ohio River in 1832, was the first and among the most successful canals in the Midwest. Today, it is a major spine of CVNP (www.nps.gov/cuva) and the Ohio & Erie National Heritage Canalway (www.ohioanderie canalway.org). Many of you are familiar with the Towpath Trail. Today, more than 70 miles of the eventual 100-mile trail are complete.

A second Midwestern canal, the Illinois & Michigan (www.nps.gov/ilmi) also has received national heritage area designation. This 97-mile canal extended from Lake Michigan to the Illinois River. It rapidly transformed Chicago into a critical transportation hub. Its Towpath Trail is a state park that runs through a rural and wooded landscape linking towns laid out by the original canal commission.

The eastern canals often played a similar role to the Appalachian and Midwestern canals, but on a localized scale. They connected urban areas to the natural resources and towns in the outlying regions of their states. Others were built to provide water power to industry. Some federally designated places where you can experience these canals include:

• Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor (www.delawareandlehigh.org). This heritage area includes two canals, the Delaware and Lehigh, which were part of a network linked to Philadelphia and developed for carrying coal. The 165-mile corridor passes through three distinct areas: Wyoming Valley and Carbon County, home to many former anthracite mines; the Lehigh Valley, where coal spawned prosperous iron and steel industries; and the Delaware Valley, through which coal-laden canal boats traveled to Philadelphia and other markets.
• Schuylkill River Valley National Heritage Area (www.schuylkillriver.org). This heritage area also near Philadelphia includes the Schuylkill Canal, built between 1816 and 1825 to make the shallow Schuylkill River navigable, especially for transporting coal. Today, 28 of the 108 miles of canal remain. Canoes and kayaks can “lock through” Lock 60 during summer open houses.
• Augusta Canal National Heritage Area (www.augustacanal.com). Located in Augusta, Ga., this is the nation’s only industrial power canal still in use for its original purpose. Built in 1845 to harness the water and power of the Savannah River, it offers history and recreation along its 8.5 miles of towpath.

Jennie Vasarhelyi is chief of interpretation, education and visitor services for Cuyahoga Valley National Park.