Upon becoming a state in 1803, Ohio held great potential for the nation, situated in a prime location with vast natural resources. However, with no real system of transportation in the Ohio frontier, accessing these resources posed a problem. While residents and business owners along Lake Erie and the Ohio River enjoyed access to trade and travel beyond the state, the remainder of Ohio’s 50,000 residents were scattered throughout the Ohio wilderness, virtually cut off from the rest of the nation. To the state’s benefit, though, geographically it lay between two waterways of national importance, the Great Lakes and the Ohio River. For this reason, all canal systems proposed by the competing seaboard states included Ohio in their plans. Though lack of national funding and the War of 1812 suspended early canal plans, in 1825 New York state successfully opened its Erie Canal, offering Ohio canal systems a completed route to the sea and ready financial aid. In July of 1825 construction began on the Ohio & Erie Canal, an engineering feat that would forever change the Ohio landscape.
Though Ohio’s natural waterways provided some means of transportation, fluctuating water levels throughout the year forced many of these rivers to be abandoned during periods of low water levels. Conversely, the newly constructed canal system provided a means of transport year round by manually maintaining water levels and recycling water into the canal along the length of the system. Between 1825 and 1848, Ohio constructed nearly 1,000 miles of canals throughout the state. Canal construction was a huge undertaking, creating so many employment opportunities that labor shortages sometimes required women to take on traditionally male jobs. Formerly small, remote towns experienced rapid growth as the canals brought large numbers of workers, families and businesses, all hoping for a share in the prosperity the new canals promised.
In the days before Barberton, the Tuscarawas River had long been a well-used source of travel and shipping, but the new canal provided an easier means of transporting goods and people to locations not located along the river. General stores, restaurants and hotels all sprung up along the canal, as did a number of “canal cities.” In the 1850s, New Portage, a local settlement that predated Barberton by many years, was resettled along the canal, taking full advantage of the unprecedented access the canal provided. The nearby village of Wolf Creek, located north of Snyder Ave. and Lock 1, also prospered during this era, benefiting from the traffic and business opportunities brought about by the canal.
Though one of the best-traveled canal systems in the nation, the Ohio & Erie Canal fell into near disuse after only a few decades. Ending almost as suddenly as it began, the Canal Era and the push to build and expand the canals soon gave way to a desire for more railroads. Despite its short reign, the Canal Era in Ohio left a lasting mark on the state, turning a population of 581,295 in 1820 to more than two million by 1860. In Barberton, we can still see the remnants of this historic era, as the city’s sole canal lock, the Wolf Creek lock, still exists under the aptly named Canal St. Current projects along former canal routes are working to restore canal history and honor the contributions the Ohio & Erie Canal made in shaping our region. Several trail heads are already in place in Barberton, with plans in progress to build a bridge over the Tuscarawas River and connect to the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath. These plans will link Barberton to the popular towpath trail that receives more than two million visitors a year and spans Northeastern Ohio from New Philadelphia to Cleveland, with the potential to bring about a new Canal Era in Barberton.