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Hello again. I've been meaning to do an update for a couple of weeks but never seem to have enough time and energy. But enough with the excuses, on to the news. It was such a beautiful day today that I decided to check out some of the Towpath Trail construction around the Akron area. Starting in the north, the Cascade Locks Bikeway portion of the trail is coming along nicely. The construction crew has put sp the walls of the tunnel that will allow the Towpath to connect to a new bridge over the Innerbelt. I've updated the slideshow below with some pics of the progress. I also went down by the new park that's being built at the location of Lock 4 in downtown Akron. The construction workers have part of the concrete culvert removed and a portion of the canal is now seeing daylight for the first time in over a quarter of a century. I still haven't figured out how they're going to expose Lock 4, but time will tell. I didn't see any construction going on around Summit Lake. I was under the impression that work on the floating boardwalk was to begin this fall, but it hasn't started yet. But a new little section of the trail is being completed at Waterloo Road. A tunnel has been constructed as part of the bridge reconstruction over the canal. The Towpath will pass through this tunnel and a short segment of the trail is being constructed on either side of the tunnel, much like what was done at Manchester Road. In Barberton, I didn't see any work being done on the trail south of Snyder Avenue but some survey markers were visible indicating where the trail will begin on the south side of the street. But looking north from Vanderhoof Road, it is very clear where the trail will be. The clear cutting has been completed on that section of the trail and I read that a contract has been awarded to a company to start the actual trail construction. A good portion of that section looks to run along side of Van Buren Avenue - not very scenic, but some of that area does look pretty. In other news, I discovered a Yahoo Group dedicated to disseminating information about the Towpath Trail. There is a link to it at the end of this update. If that doesn't work, try searching for oetowpath on Yahoo Groups. The group's moderator (Henry) found my slideshow at RockYou and visited this website. He has a link to it on the group page. The group seems to be mostly comprised of bicycling enthusiasts but has some nice information on it. If you have an interest in the development of the trail, I would recommend joining the group. The date of the grand opening of the Towpath bridge over I-77 by Ft. Laurens has been officially set. It will take place at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, October 27. Congressman Ralph Regula is expected to be on hand for the ceremony. I also heard from a gentleman by the name of Alan (thanks for the kind words, Alan) that the Zoarville Station Bridge dedication was a couple of weekends ago. This bridge will allow the Towpath to cross the Tuscarawas River and head into Dover. The trail is open for walking from the bridge to White Bridge near the intersection of SR 416 and SR 800. It follows the Zoar Valley Trail and/or an old railroad bed on the south side of the river. That means you could now hike the Towpath from Ft. Laurens to just north of Dover. Since I haven't done this myself yet, I can't say that is usable for bikes. I'll let you know when I find out. Well, I think that's it for now. Keep checking back - even if I don't do an update I sometimes add new photos. Hope you're all doing well.
I had a little trouble with the web page there for a couple of weeks. It was a server problem - somehow all of the updates I had done over the summer were gone and in their place was old editions of the site. Luckily, they fixed the problem and the updated sites came back. But I had to change my password and my wife has the master account but didn't know what her password was. So I had to sit on hold on the phone tonight for a half an hour waiting for someone to get on to help me out. Now that's taken care of and I can finally do an update. There's not much new to tell other than I updated the slideshow below with some new pictures of the progress of the Towpath Trail through Akron. It's coming along quite nicely. I've also decided to revamp the pictures on the site. Instead of the slideshow pages that I had set up, I'm just going to replace the photos of each site with a slide show instead. That way, the pictures will be located with the information about the site and they will be bigger and more of them. Now the question is, when will I get to this? Who knows, but that's the plan at least. In the meantime, enjoy the new photos on this page and keep coming back. Oh yeah, one bit of news - excavation has begun on Lock 4 in downtown Akron. Although they haven't actually gotten to the lock yet, it should be coming soon. There are pictures below on the slide show.
Hello again. Man, it's either hit or miss with me and these updates. I'll go months without putting one up and then put up a whole bunch in a short period of time. I got quite a bit of new information yesterday as I made a visit to the OECC office in downtown Akron. The information is about the progress of the Towpath Trail and here it is. In Cleveland, the 1/2 section needed to connect Harvard Avenue with the already completed section at Steelyard Commons is going to be a difficult one and won't be finished for at least four years. I drove past the Tinker's Creek Aqueduct and it looks like a new bridge has been constructed for the trail over the aqueduct site. The aqueduct is going to be rebuilt by the National Park Service. Construction continues on the Cascade Locks Bikeway connecting Cascade Locks Park with downtown Akron. I was told the project would take two years to complete but I'm not too sure about that. I guess it will depend on how quickly the bridge over the Innerbelt will be built. In downtown Akron, Water Street, which runs right next to the Towpath, has been made into a one way street (heading south). Additional on street parking has been added so it essentially makes that section of the trail a trailhead of sorts. Construction also continues on the short link from that point to Lock 2 Park. Engineering is still underway for the part of the trail that runs behind the old B.F. Goodrich plant. Construction of the trail through the Summit Lake area is beginning this summer. Summit Lake to Manchester Road should be open by 2009. I was contacted by someone in the Stark Parks marketing department about historic pictures of the Crystal Springs area. He is working on reviving some projects involving interpretive signage in Stark County. Hopefully that means that the Towpath will have signs placed in the future telling of the history of the canal in Stark County. Speaking of Stark County, the final piece of the trail in Massillon is moving forward. Apparently negotiations with the railroad have broke down and the trail will not pass in the originally planned location. Engineering and design is underway for the new route that will complete the trail in Massillon. Fundraising is also underway to complete the trail from SR 212 to the Tuscarawas County border, including the pedestrian bridge at the old Bolivar Aqueduct site. The opening of the bridge over I-77 has been delayed again and will now occur sometime this fall. Fundraising is also underway to construct the trail from the Stark County line to the new bridge. I was most excited though to obtain the map showing the Tuscarawas County Trail and Green Space Plan. It details the Towpath Trail route through the county. Here is basically what it says: So that's some pretty exciting stuff. But just because it's been planned that way doesn't mean it will be built in the near future. There are many steps involved in the process and I don't think will see this completed for several years (although the trail is supposed to be complete by the mid 2010's). That's all I have for now. Hope you're enjoying the updates. Let me know what you think.
Vince made an interesting online discovery today which he forwarded to me. A person who goes by the name "itchymoche" is chronicling his involvement with the construction of the new leg of the Towpath Trail from Vanderhoof Road and putting the videos on YouTube. It's interesting to see what is involved in the construction of a trail like the Towpath. I've posted a few of the videos below. Check them out if you have some time.
I took a drive on the CanalWay Scenic Byway from Peninsula to Bolivar the other day and found out some interesting things about the Towpath. First, the construction of the Cascade Locks Bikeway is progressing nicely. I added some more pictures to the slideshow below. Second, I got a look at the plans for the new park at Lock 4 on Bowery Street in Akron. Looks pretty nice - I like that it looks like it will connect to Lock 3 under the Civic Theater. Next, construction of the trail north from Vanderhoof Road to Snyder Avenue is underway. The trail leaves the original location of the canal due to the presence of a lime lake, swampland, and rerouting of the Tuscarawas River and Wolf Creek. Finally, the new bridge in Bolivar is not complete yet. I could not see any new construction of the trail north of there either. That section may be a little farther away than I had hoped.
Hello again. Sorry for the brevity of the last update, but I thought the information pretty much spoke for itself. Hope you enjoyed listening to it (if you didn't because you didn't know what it was, it's a interview with various people about the construction of the Towpath Trail in Cleveland). There are some exciting things going on in my neck of the canal. Construction has begun on the Towpath Trail connection between Cascade Locks Park and downtown Akron. It may be finished by November because the road I use to go to work is closed for trail construction until then. See the slide show below for some early pictures of its progress. The parking garage that sat above Lock 4 in downtown Akron has been removed. Although the lock is still underground, it's on its way to seeing the light of day. The Towpath Trail in Tuscarawas County was supposed to be opened this month but I haven't been down there yet to see if it is indeed open. Maybe next week... I spent the past week down in southern Ohio at the Shawnee State Forest. It's only about 14 miles from Portsmouth which of course means that I had to do a little canal exploring while I was down there. I hiked down to the outlet like I did this past spring since the water level in the Ohio River was much lower now than it was then. Sure enough, I could see the whole lock and outlet on the river and took some snapshots. Again, see below. It was quite a hike this time marching through the corn fields to get to the outlet. Luckily, I had made a GPS reading of the location last time I was there and found it pretty easily. Since I was in the area, I headed over to Kentucky to do some family tree research (the hobby I was involved in before I discovered the Towpath and Canal). I found some interesting information. The only reason I'm telling about it here is that if the information pans out, I could get back into that hobby a little more which means I'll have less time to spend on this site. But I will continue with updates and hopefully get back to work on the path of the canal this fall or winter. That's it for now.
Click
here.
Man, has it really been over two months since I updated this? That means I must a lot of information to put up here, which I do. It's been pretty exciting to be in NE Ohio and a canal enthusiast lately. Here's what's going on. First, and most exciting, the Akron Beacon Journal reported last week that the City of Akron plans to uncover Lock 4 and construct a waterside plaza at that location. Public improvements should be done by the end of the year so construction can begin next spring. It will be the first time Lock 4 has been exposed since the 1960's. It also gives me hope that someday we can possibly uncover more of the Cascade Locks. The Beacon Journal also reported last week that Dan Rice, President of the Ohio & Erie CanalWay Coalition, announced that the restoration of the Richard Howe house in downtown Akron will begin by the end of the year. I'm not sure what the exact plans for it are. I had heard that they wanted to move it down to the Towpath at a visitor center but I've also heard that it will be renovated where it is and used partially as a visitor center and partially as the offices of the Coalition. No matter what they do with it, it is just amazing that this house that was built in the 1830's by the canal engineer is still standing and has withstood urban expansion. Another building that is going to be renovated is Young's Restaurant at the Manchester Road Trailhead of the Towpath Trail. The City of Akron plans to buy the property and restore the historic site as a retail and visitor center. There are a number of construction updates for the Towpath Trail at the bottom of this page. Things are moving along nicely. I know this because I just completed my annual Towpath Expedition for 2007. We rode 102 miles between Cleveland and New Philadelphia on bikes a couple of weekends ago and it was a blast. For a detailed account of the ride and the days leading up to it, click here. If anyone has any news about sections of the Ohio & Erie Canal, feel free to let me know so I can post it. I usually only hear about things in the National Heritage Corridor and there is so much south of that. Surely there are tidbits in the local papers of those areas. Drop me a note on the home page - I'd appreciate it.
Hey there. Time for a quick update. I have been doing a little work on the site and I started putting new slideshows up. The slideshows feature pictures featured elsewhere in the site but in a larger format so they can be seen better. There are also some other pictures on them that aren't anywhere else on the site. I have three of them done, covering Cuyahoga County and Summit County through the National Park. You can see them by going to the Locations and Trailheads page linked from the left. If you don't like music, turn your computer's volume down since each page has its own music. I also have been getting some feedback from the form I put on the home page. I thought I might add a few of the posts and my responses. Here they are:
"Very interesting site! I live near Mansfield but work in Columbus and do a lot of side-tripping to canal sites in central Ohio. Your newest update gives me hope that some of the central Ohio structures that are not easily found will be photographed and put up on your website. A couple of questions....how were you able to gain access to the lock near Millport? I have no idea how to get to that location and if property owners are friendly to canal buffs. Also, were you able to confirm if any remnants of the aqueduct between Baltimore and Carroll are present? Are there any remnants of locks 20 and 21? They seemed to be higher than Groveport road and are on private property I believe. I have been too scared to park and walk through the woods along the road. Also, did you happen to see the guards on the sides of the slackwater crossing at the end of the now dead end road, (either Amanda Northern or Diley Road, I can't remember) I discovered these by sheer luck on day. And lastly for now, you mentioned the Baltimore locks. Another site mentions that either lock 2 or 3 still exists on private property and still has the floor planks present. I would like to see this, but once again, uneasiness about straying onto private land holds me back. I would be interested in some of your methods of obtaining access (authorized or otherwise) to the sites shown on the ODNR plat series. "Thanks for your site!"
I’m glad you like the site. It’s been sort of an obsession of mine for a couple of years now (the canal that is). I just wish I had the time to just sit down and finish the whole thing. I started it because as I got interested in the canal, I was frustrated that there wasn’t a site that all the information you needed to know to visit canal structures throughout the state. I did join the Canal Society of Ohio and strongly recommend it if you’re not already a member. So to the questions you asked. First, the lock at Millport. Lock 31 is very accessible actually. I made my first visit there last fall with a friend of mine. There is a drive to the farm that has two concrete posts on either side of the driveway. That’s the place to be. We drove up and no one was home. My friend stayed at the car while I walked across the farm to the lock site. The owner came home as I was completing my photographs. He was very friendly and was more than happy to let me see the lock. As long as you don’t spook or mess with his cows (that literally go up and drink out of the lock), he’s cool with people seeing the lock. He said he wished he could put a little park in so people could come down and enjoy the lock. The second time I went to the lock was in March. This time, we actually followed the canal bed from the road back to the lock. We more or less looped around the farmer’s property that time. Watch out for gopher holes if you go that way – they’re everywhere. The aqueduct between Baltimore and Carroll must be the Little Walnut Creek Aqueduct. I did just find that site last month. As I recall, it was on private property but the owner allowed us to go visit it. There are significant remains to the abutments and possible some timber remains in the creek. I will post some pictures of it soon on the slideshows I’m working on (did you see the one for Cuyahoga County yet? Get there by clicking the county link on the trailhead and location page.). I don’t think there are any remnants of Locks 20 and 21 east of Groveport. I emailed that question to someone involved with the restoration of Lock 22 and they didn’t think there were any remnants either. On Amanda Northern Road, you can see the remains of the guard lock on the west side of the creek. It’s on private property and the owners allowed access to it but were a little hesitant about it. Part of it is in their actual yard. The lock on the other side of the creek is actually a lift lock. I got to it by hiking the canal bed from the Lockville Park site. The owners of the locks past the park didn’t give us any trouble about following the canal bed through their properties. We seemed like we hiked forever but there are remains of every lock up to the creek. In Baltimore, there are remains of Lock 3. They are on private property and we did not ask permission but had no problems. I don’t think there is anything left of Locks 1 and 2. As far as how to gain access, I have a couple suggestions that have served me well. First, don’t go alone. You can be a little more daring heading into the woods if you have company. I have two friends that I have hiked around with and we’ve all agreed that we’ve gone further to see sites because we were together vs. being alone. Secondly, when possible, just ask property owners if you can visit the canal structures on their property. I have met very little resistance when I have done this. It helps if you can tell them that you are a member of the Canal Society of Ohio – it gives you legitimacy. Chances are, you won’t be the first person to ask to see the structures.
"This is a very neat website. What map datum was used for the GPS coordinates? Do you have GPS coordinates for mile markers as well? "Have you thought of linking this all to Google Earth?"
I literally have gotten each of my GPS coordinates from making a reading at each site with a Garmin Legend GPS unit. I try to get an accuracy of within 20’ when possible based on what the weather conditions are like at the time. I originally plotted out the coordinates with the software that came with the unit, but I bought a TopoUSA program to get better maps. I haven’t fully been able to utilize that program yet, mostly because I haven’t had the time to sit down and do it (plus, my son destroyed the cable that connected my unit to my computer). I have GPS coordinates for many, but not all of the mile markers on the Towpath. The site originally started out as a guide to the Towpath, but soon because a documentary of the entire canal. So things like the mile markers didn’t make it onto the site since it was specific only to the existing trail in the National Heritage Corridor.
"Do you have any suggestions on visiting remains of the Miami & Erie Canal? We have been to the Cuyahoga Valley Visitors center and also the locks along the way and are now interested in the Miami and Erie. I have downloaded the Ohio's Historic Canals Sites and map but wonder what you suggest. Thank You."
I haven’t ventured over to the M&E Canal yet, but I have a friend that is rather fluent in that part of the state. He says there are a lot of structures still out there, but many of them are on private property. My best suggestion would be to head to the Summit County Library in Akron (if you live in NE Ohio) and take out the Canal Society of Ohio’s tour guides for their visits to the M&E Canal. If you live further away from Akron, try contacting the CSO through their web site to purchase the tour guides yourself. And if you have a lot of time on your hands, you can wait until I finally finish my Ohio & Erie Canal site and watch for me to make my way over to the western part of the state and start THAT website! But I think you might want to pursue one of the first two options since I have no idea when I’ll ever finish this site!
So that's it for now. I hope you like the additions to the site. Keep the comments coming - it's great to know there are interested parties out there that are making their way to my site. I promise more good stuff is on the way!
Hello, hello, hello! It's been quite awhile. I've been so busy with other projects this winter that I haven't had a chance to do any work on this site until now. Even now, I don't have that much time but a few of my canal cohorts have been riding my butt to get to work on finishing the site. I thought I should start my foray back into the web site with an update on what's been happening. First, what I've been up to. I went on a canal trip in November to the southern part of the state to get pictures and locations for the structures I hadn't visited yet. I started in Newark and followed the route of the canal south for two days. I got as far as Groveport the first day and then finished the trip to Portsmouth on the second day. Because the days were getting shorter by the time I took the trip, I was getting rushed at the end of the trip and some of my pictures were a bit dark. I also didn't get to spend a lot of time looking for hard to find structures. So although the trip was a success, I was going to have to go back at some point. Probably the biggest successes of the first day were finding Lock 7 in Newark, the locks in Baltimore, and what is possibly Lock 10 in Carroll. My canal cohorts Bill and Boone accompanied me on this stretch of the canal. We dubbed ourselves as the "The Three Stooges of the Ohio & Erie Canal." On day two, I was accompanied by my friend Jeremy. We had good luck in locating Lock 31 in Millport and a few locks near the end of the journey. But we were rushed and didn't roll into Portsmouth until it was dark. That meant looking for the outlet lock was out of the question. Since the other Stooges hadn't joined me on the second day, they decided to rehash the trip in March. We met up in Millport and traveled all the way to Portsmouth. This time we beat the nightfall and got all the way to the outlet. Unfortunately, the water level of the Ohio River was too high and we couldn't actually see the outlet lock itself. So guess what that means? I'll be making another trip down there someday. We were quite happy to find a number of aqueduct structures as well as the elusive Higby Guard Lock. The day was nearly a complete success. I now have enough pictures to almost complete this web site. Now if I could just find the time... The Mustill Store season kicks off this weekend with food and entertainment at Cascade Locks Park in Akron. I've been asked to work the event but I'm not sure if I can yet. I do hope to make it down there at some point. There is all kinds of Towpath construction news to catch up on. I'll try to start in the north and move south. I haven't heard of anything new about construction north of Harvard Road. The Towpath bridges over Grainger and Warner Roads are complete and look very nice. In Akron, sidewalks have been widened and resurfaced along Quaker St., Bowery St., and Water St. for use as the Towpath Trail. Construction on the portion to connect the trail at Quaker St. and the south end of the current trail in Cascade Locks Park is to begin this year. The new portion of the trail that connects Water St. to Lock 2 Park is under construction and a new bridge is in place for the trail to pass to the east side of the canal where it currently sits. Engineering work has begun on the section from behind Spaghetti Warehouse to Bartges St. where the trail will continue as it does now. At Summit Lake, the trail's construction will begin this summer with completion set for 2008. It will feature the "Floating Towpath" on the south end of Summit Lake as it did in the canal era. It will stretch to Wilbeth Road when finished. According to the Akron Beacon Journal, a section of the trail should be opened this year in the area around Waterloo Rd. Construction of a new bridge (replacing an older one) for Waterloo Rd. over the canal has begun and will allow for the Towpath Trail to pass under the road. A new underpass at I-277 is complete and features a small but barely accessible section of the completed trail. The City of Akron is planning on buying Young's Restaurant by the Manchester Rd. trailhead. The building may be renovated into a visitor center along the canal. Some office and retail space will be available as well. Apparently the City of Barberton has decided not to make a trailhead at Tuscarawas Ave. as had been previously talked about. A new pedestrian bridge will be placed over the canal though to connect the Towpath with a path to downtown Barberton under the new Robinson Ave. Viaduct. The Vanderhoof Rd. trailhead is open for use and the finishing touches on its construction are underway. It is paved and restrooms are present. It seems only the signage and landscaping needs finished. I had heard a rumor that the trail would be complete in Bolivar by June but it doesn't seem that that is true. Although some surveying and planning has been done in that area, there are no signs of construction. The bridge over I-77 is looking good. It has been surfaced and is taking shape quite nicely. It looks as though it should be complete sometime this summer. I know these things because I went a little canal ride today, following the Scenic Byway south to Bolivar. It was a nice day and a pleasant ride. I took a few pictures and you can see them below. Which brings me to my next bit of news. In the time I've been away from the website, I have learned of some free features that are out there that I can use on the page. So the first is the picture slideshow below. It's great because I can put up bigger pictures and it doesn't take up space on my server. So I'm also planning on adding a new photo page to this site. I'll put up bigger pictures in a slideshow format of the structures that I've taken pictures of and posted. I always hated that I had to have such small pictures of the structures on the site to make them fit on the free space I have through my internet provider. I also bought a new computer and am going to have to get a new web page editing program. When I do, I'll be able to make slicker pages and the site might see a little bit of a facelift. In the meantime, I'll just have to try to keep going on the pages the old way. For my Towpath Expedition this year, we're not doing any fundraisers. Instead, since so many people who I've told about the ride wanted to join in, I'm going to have the ride this year open to anyone who wants to join us. You'll be able to meet up with us at various points along the trail and ride as much as you want to. I might even make it aggressive and try to make it to Canal Fulton the first day. We could camp there overnight and get started first thing in the morning again. That sounds like a good time to me. I've been losing weight and working out this winter so I won't have to go through the misery of last year's ride again. But last year's ride was quite a monetary success. All in all, we raised over $3000 for the Organization for Autism Research. It was way above what I had expected and I am thrilled that people contributed so generously. So thanks to any of you reading this who contributed to the cause! Well, that's about it for now. I've got some other tweaks to make on the site, including a new text box to send messages to me from the main page. Check it out and let me know what you think. Thanks for coming back!
We completed our Towpath Expedition this weekend. To read all about it, follow this link. Happy Halloween!
It's been awhile since I've had a moment to sit down and update the journal page. I've been busy this fall and some of my time has been taken up by canal related activities. I've been doing some exploring of the canal's path in Cleveland. I was going to just wait for the Towpath to be completed before hitting that section of the canal. There isn't much up there to see anyway. But the trail will not follow the historical route of the canal through the final 6 miles of its course in the north due to the industry that has grown up in its place in the last 100 years. So I decided to start getting some pictures for the site for that portion of the canal. The first page of that section is in production and will be finished soon. I'll be heading down to the southern parts of Ohio in a few weeks to hit the areas of the canal that I haven't visited yet. I'm hoping to get most of the info I need to finish this site on that trip and maybe, just maybe I can get the site completed this winter. My Towpath Expedition is still set for next weekend. Hopefully the weather will cooperate with us and we'll have an enjoyable ride. We've decided to tack on the first 6 miles of the canal from Settler's Landing to Harvard Avenue this year and combined with the new sections of the trail that have opened in the last year, we should have quite a different ride than we did in 2005. The fundraising efforts are going well as well. So far we've raised over $1300 for the Organization for Autism Research with more pledged. We're still hoping to reach at least $2000 so if you'd like to donate, please follow the link in the update below. A number of canal enthusiasts have already responded and have generously donated - thank you so much for the support. In Towpath construction news, the new bridges south of Cleveland should be completed. The last time I drove by a few weeks ago, they were putting the finishing touches on the signage on the bridges. Construction continues in downtown Akron to connect Lock 2 Park with Cascade Locks Park. The steel beams have been erected on the pillars of the bridge crossing I-77 in Bolivar. Apparently the project had stalled due to a shortage of building materials but is now back on track. Finally, the new section of the trail between Vanderhoof and Center Roads is open. The trailhead at Vanderhoof is also nearing completion.
I recently read that the section of the
trail in Cleveland is not expected to be completed until 2014-2015. This
differs from the 2013 date I had heard in June. The same article stated
that the first leg of construction of that portion of the trail may not be
complete for another 6 years (Akron Beacon Journal 9/19/06).
I just wanted to make a quick update on some new news. The new section of the Towpath Trail from Vanderhoof Road to Center Road will be officially dedicated on September 20th. For more information, visit the MetroParks Serving Summit County web site. That part of the trail will be 2.3 miles long and contains three boardwalks. The trailhead at Vanderhoof Road is moving along as well. The bathrooms have been constructed and it appears (as of last week) that the concrete will be poured soon. I have kicked off my Towpath Expedition fundraiser for this year as well. On October 28 and 29, three friends of mine and I will be riding the length of Towpath Trail (and CanalWay Ohio National Scenic Byway where there is no trail) to raise money for the Organization for Autism Research. We are very excited about this opportunity and are looking forward to it with great anticipation. Any support is greatly appreciated. Finally, I just added a new page to the site today about Roscoe Village. Hope you enjoy it.
Time for another update. I've actually been getting quite a few pages up lately. It's really fun now that I've moved on to areas outside of my immediate surroundings and outside of the National Heritage Corridor. But as a result, there is sometimes a lack of information about some of the more obscure areas of the canal's path. If you have any information that may be useful or if you see any errors about anything, be sure to let me know. I haven't been able to work on any new pages over the last few days because I've been dealing with an unhappy visitor to my site. But I'm hoping that will be put behind us and we can move on to enjoying the hobby of canal exploring. A quick update on the status of the Towpath Trail bridges north of the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. I read in the paper that the bridges are expected to be completed by the middle of October. That stinks for people who would like to get out on that section of the trail before the end of the summer, but I'm just happy that they'll be finished by the time I make my bike ride at the end of that month.
So it turns out I was wrong about the new Towpath Trail south of Vanderhoof Road. Connor and I decided to head out there for a hike today and we started at Center Road. We got to where the new section of the trail should have started and found the way still blocked by an orange plastic fence. But do you think I was going to hike that distance and not check it out? Of course not. We obviously weren't the first with that idea because the fence had a number of holes in it where previous explorers had broken the law before us. There were even bicycle tracks on the new trail.
The new section of the Towpath Trail
crosses over the canal bed so that it runs along what would have been the
berm bank. The CSX railroad runs right
One other bit of news - I got an email from Boone Triplett whom I met while on the CSO's Spring Tour this year. He's working on a book about Ohio's canal system in its present state. He sent me a rough draft of some of it and it's really good stuff. He's soliciting any information anyone has on the canals for the book. It you'd like to learn more about the book or to contribute any information, email him at boonetrip@yahoo.com. I plan on using some of his information on my pages here as it looks like he's done quite a bit of research out in the field.
Even though I haven't been updating the Journal page lately, I have been keeping up with some canal related activities and I guess it's time to put them up on the page. Starting in the north, I drove up to where the new bridges are being constructed for the Towpath Trail to pass over Warner and Granger Roads. They are coming along nicely. One of them had the concrete poured and was almost finished. The other was a bit behind, but it looks like they should be finished by the fall. In Akron, the new waysides were put in on the new section of the Towpath that runs south from North Street. The signs designating the Pedestrian Connector Trail to Lock 3 are up as well. In downtown, construction of the Trail from Lock 2 Park to where it will connect with the bridge over the Innerbelt has begun. I drove past the Vanderhoof Road trailhead the other day and although it's not complete, it does look like the trail is open from there to where it connects to the finished part south of Lime Lake #5. I might go bike riding there tomorrow to check it out. In Bolivar, construction of the bridge over I-77 is still progressing. I've been doing some work on the pages and I'm finally moving south beyond the designated National Heritage Corridor. That means it's getting a little more complicated to put the pages up, but it's an exciting challenge. It seems that some of what I put up causes a little controversy. I am using some historic photos that I got from CSO member Dave Meyer on the pages but I've heard back from some other experts who have refuted the validity of my labeling. It's making for some interesting conversations on what is what. I've also heard from some other people who have spotted errors on other pages. I'm glad people are taking an interest. If you notice any errors or have any other information about the places on my pages, please let me know. Like I've stated before, I'm no expert but I want the site to be as accurate as possible so people can use it to enjoy the history of the canal. I'll be doing my own little trek on the canal this fall. I've set the date for my annual bike ride along the Towpath. It will be on the last weekend in October (the 28th and 29th). This year, my three friends (Jeremy, Vince, and Paul) and I will be raising money for the Organization for Autism Research by making the 100 mile ride from Cleveland to New Philadelphia. There will be more information posted here as soon as I set some things up for donations. Stay tuned. Finally, I'm going to start a mailing list for people who are interested in new pages on this site so they'll know when I've added something new. If you'd like to be on this list, send an email to me at astronurse1@netscape.net. The email will come from a different address that I don't like posting online because it gets too much junk mail that way.
It's been a pretty cool week from a canal enthusiast's standpoint, so here's what's up. First, I worked at the Mustill Store last Sunday and I had a really good time talking to the visitor's that came to see the museum. I really liked how interested people seemed to be in the history of the canal. While I was at the store, I found out that construction has begun on a recreation of the spillway for Lock 15 that ran under the porch of the Mustill Store. It will be filled with blue rocks instead of water, but it will be an interesting addition to the park none-the-less. A more interesting development was the opening of the new section of the Towpath Trail through the Cascade Locks on Wednesday. It was a pretty grand event, complete with a mule. Various local dignitaries made speeches before the first hikers made their way up the trail. I was there for the speeches but I had to leave to pick my son up from school before I could partake of the hike. But from what I could see, the landscaping that had been completed since I hiked up the trail a week and a half ago looks quite nice. I'll be heading up the officially opened trail for the first time next Monday. Speaking of Towpath developments, I talked to a MetroParks ranger today who told me that they expect the next section of the trail to open between Lime Lake #5 and Vanderhoof Road in about a month. That surprised me since I couldn't tell that a trail was even being constructed south of Vanderhoof Road and the trailhead there hasn't seen any new work in quite some time, still having just the rough outline of the parking area finished. I took a drive down the southern part of the CanalWay Ohio National Scenic Byway today. It was a beautiful day for it. I stopped at the Massillon Museum and picked up a copy of Terry Woods' History of the Ohio & Erie Canal in Stark County, which was an interesting read. I also saw the construction being done on the new bridge for the Towpath Trail over I-77 near Fort Laurens. And of course, I got a few new pictures for the website.
I got out to see the new section of the Towpath Trail through Cascade Locks Park on Friday. CLPA asked me to take a hike up the trail and get some photos of the the latest stage of the construction for their website. I was really amazed at how nice the park is going to be. Even though I'd hiked up on the east side of the canal before, I had never seen Locks 14-12 from the west side before. It was like I was in a whole new park. It was very quiet and even when you got to the current end of the trail near the innerbelt, the sound of rushing water in the canal was really all you could hear. The trail really gets you interested in the entire master plan for the park, available on the CLPA website. The trail will eventually continue on past where it ends in the picture to the far right above. It will cross over the culvert where the canal goes underground so that it will run along what would be the west side of the canal. It will parallel the Innerbelt for a short distance, run through a tunnel under Rand Avenue, cross on a bridge over the Innerbelt, and run down to Ash Street. It will then follow established sidewalks to Lock 2. This should all be finished by the end of 2007. The official opening for the new trail will be on Wednesday, June 28 at 10:30 in the a.m. There will be a ribbon cutting with the mayor and other dignitaries at the opening. I hope to be able to go to it.
Wow! It's been over two months since my last entry. I guess keeping up a web page about a defunct canal is just like any other hobby - you go through periods where you let things fall by the wayside for a bit. But even though I've been neglecting the page, I've still been involved in a number of canal activities. So here goes the update. Probably the most exciting news I have is that the newest section of the Towpath Trail through the Cascade Locks Park is scheduled to open in less than two weeks! Asphalt was poured in the new parking lot at Lock 14 yesterday and the trail looks to be ready for the final surfacing. The official ribbon cutting for the trail will take place on Wednesday, June 28 while the official opening to the public will be two days later on the 30th. I might get a little daring tonight after my softball game and take a hike up the new trail to see what it looks like. The finished trail will link with a pedestrian walkway to downtown Akron and Lock 3 Park. Interpretive waysides are supposed to be completed on the new trail as well. I attended a presentation by Rob and Peggy Bobel last night at the Mustill Store. They talked about the new sections of the Towpath Trail and gave some construction estimates while hyping the newest edition of the Towpath Companion that is to be released later this year. See the updates at the bottom of the page for a complete overview, but here are some highlights:
Speaking of the Mustill Store, I'll be volunteering there on Sunday, June 25th from 3-6. Come out and talk about the canal with me if you have some time. I drove down to the construction area for the new Vanderhoof Road trailhead today and I'm sad to report that it doesn't look much different than it did a few months ago. I'm still hearing reports that it will be completed by the end of the year. I also didn't see any new progress on the trail connecting the trailhead to the current ending of the trail that opened early this year near Lime Lake 5. I recently obtained a large collection of vintage canal photos, completely digitalized, that I'll be able to use on my webpage. So even if you've visited the whole site before, be on the lookout for some new old photos. The new CanalWay Center in Canal Fulton opened at the end of April and it's a pretty nice facility. There is an amphitheater in it that was showing Jack Gieck's video of the history of the canal when I was there. Well, that's about it for now. I just might go and try to add a few more pages to the site this afternoon, so I have to get busy. Get out and enjoy the warm weather and check out the ol' canal while you're at it!
Lots to talk about, so I'll get right to it. I went on the Canal Society of Ohio's Spring Tour this weekend and had a really good time. I became a member as well and met a number of interesting people who all share my interest in the canal. On Friday, I enjoyed Terry Woods' presentation on the history of the sites that were to be visited on the tour. Saturday's journey through Coshocton, Muskingum, and Licking Counties was great - I visited locks and sites that I wasn't able to find on my trip last October. I learned that my find of Lock 20 is completely incorrect. The structures I found are actually part of a RR spur that came off the Valley line in that area. A CSO member, Larry Turner, said that the spur was used so that garbage could be brought in by train to the landfill that occupied that area in the mid 1900's. Terry Woods also confirmed this to me in an email tonight. I went out there again today and I am convinced that it is definitely not a canal lock. Oh well. The new CanalWay Center in Canal Fulton will be celebrating its grand opening on Saturday, April 29. Visit the website for more information. This thing has been in the building stages for a year now and it's finally ready to open. I'm looking forward to seeing what it's all about. Speaking of construction, I saw a new part of the Towpath Trail today. I checked out the new underpass at I-277 today. It's a boardwalk that actually juts out into the canal. The underpass at Manchester Road is also complete but the trail is not complete through the area as land ownership issues are worked out. A brand new website hit the internet last week. It's the new site of the Ohio & Erie CanalWay. It's pretty nice looking and is interactive. It finally brings the whole CanalWay together under one site. There is a link to the site on my Links page. The site lists various canal related events throughout the year as well as providing plenty of history and information about the canal. One thing I was disappointed to find out via that site though is that the planned Towpath Trail is going to miss the Wolf Creek Aqueduct. That's a bummer. I was also hoping the the trail near Bolivar would follow the line of the canal heading into town but that also appears to not be the case. The weather's getting nice - get outside and enjoy the trail and canal!
I finally found the Wolf Creek Aqueduct today, but not without getting wet, dirty, and bloody in the process. Following tips I had gotten from a few other sources, I followed the CSX train tracks south from Snyder Avenue and then veered off to the east before I got to the trestle that spans the CSXRR and Tuscarawas River. I had to hike around a bit but I managed to find the canal prism. Soon enough, after heading back north a bit, I stumbled upon the aqueduct. It's very difficult to see because of the tall reedy swamp grass that grows all around it. On top of that, the ground is very wet on the east side of the aqueduct while there is standing water on the west side due to beaver activity in the area. I was able to hop up onto the concrete walls of the aqueduct and check it out. It's in very good condition from what I could tell. I wasn't able to get a really good picture of it though because of the grass. Maybe I'll head out there again when the ground dries up a bit more and chop down the grass to get a better idea of how it looks. In other news, the web site is getting better day in and day out. I've been pretty hard at work updating the pages. I'm now complete from Cleveland to downtown Akron and I hope to get a little more done today. It seems more people check out my site than I thought. I've been getting a few emails from people who seem to really like the site. Thanks to everyone who has written in with their thoughts. I though it might be nice to post some of the comments I've gotten. Here goes:
Thanks for the kind words. They make me want to get the whole thing done that much sooner so it'll be informative to everyone along the canal route.
My son Connor is off school this week for spring break and yesterday was a beautiful day, so I decided that the two of us would check out the latest happenings on the canal south of Akron. We followed the CanalWay Ohio National Scenic Byway all the way to Canal Lands Trailhead near Zoar in Tuscarawas County. We hiked up the Towpath Trail to Lock 7 and back and found the trail to be in much better shape than when I was last on it in June of last year. The locks are also in better shape as much of the growth around the locks has been cleared so that the locks themselves can be better viewed. On the way home, we stopped just north of Bolivar and I was able to hike down and get some better pictures of the remains of the Bolivar/Tuscarawas Aqueduct. W also stopped at Lock 4 Park and Community Park in Canal Fulton. It looks like the new visitor center is nearly ready for opening. This update is short because I want to get to work on adding more updated pages to the site. I currently am complete from Cleveland to the end of the National Park and I've started on the section in Tuscarawas County since I was just there yesterday. One quick note - be sure to come out to the Mustill Store in Akron this Saturday for their season opening. There will be entertainment, food, and games for kids. I'll be out there volunteering from 12-3, so stop out and say hello. Oh, and I added a link to my recounting of our bike ride on the Towpath Trail last summer. It's to the left in the blue section of this page. Enjoy!
The site is coming along pretty nicely. I've updated the pages starting at Harvard Avenue and heading south into Boston Mills. I'm hoping to get into the Akron area of the page tomorrow. Jack Gieck, author of A Photo Album of Ohio's Canal Era, 1825 - 1913, emailed me to let me know that he had checked out the site and was pretty impressed. High praise from the man who pretty much wrote the bible of Ohio's canal history in my opinion. Speaking of Jack, I watched part of his video documentary of Ohio's Canal Era at the Canal Visitor Center a couple of weeks ago. It was kind of neat to watch it in the downstairs theater of the old canal era building. I was up that way because I wanted to see what was going on in the Cleveland area of the canal. I found some interesting developments. Two new overpass bridges are being built for the Towpath Trail to pass over Warner and Granger Roads. This will make riding/hiking the trail much safer as the current trail had to pass through busy intersections. The trail is currently closed from south of the Mill Creek Aqueduct to north of the West Canal Road Trailhead. Each bridge, at a cost of $2.5 million, should be completed by late summer, most likely in August. In other construction news, be careful on the Towpath between Boston Mills and Peninsula as work is being done on the I-271 bridge. The newest portion of the trail in Akron is progressing nicely in the Cascade Locks Park. I hiked up there today to take pictures for the CLPA's website and there's a lot of activity up there. The newest development since I last went there in early February is the beginnings of the exchange bridge that will carry the Towpath from the west side of the canal to the east at Lock 11. The pictures should be up on their site soon. The CLPA will kick off the 2006 season with the opening of the Mustill Store on April 1st from 12-6. There will be a barber shop quartet, old fashioned games for kids, and food grilling in the yard, not to mention the Jewel of the Canal itself. I'll be out in the yard helping out with the activities there, so stop by and say hello. I also recently discovered the the CanalWay Ohio group has come up with a plan for new signage to denote the various aspects of the National Heritage Corridor, bringing them all together under one banner. I missed the Summit County public meeting, but it'll be interesting to see how it's all implemented.
See you out on the trail.
So it looks like I was wrong about finding Lock 21. What I wrote below is incorrect - I did not find Lock 21. I found Lock 20. A fellow volunteer at the Mustill Store got in touch with me after hearing of my find and visiting this web page and offered his opinion on the matter. Based on what he told me and a little more research on my part, I'm pretty sure that the remains are Lock 20. I have printed out the Plat Maps of the Canal for Summit County but they lost a lot of their detail (unless you use a magnifying glass) because the originals are so large. But I opened the map on my computer and studied it more closely and I agree with Greg that it's Lock 20. So obviously the next question you might ask is "Does Lock 21 exist north of Lock 20 then?" The answer is maybe, but probably not. I'll have to investigate further, but I'm pretty sure it's not out there. But I hope I'm as wrong about this as I was at identifying my original find. I'll keep you updated if I find anything.
If you've been to my page before, you may notice that it looks a little different than it used to. That's because my view of the canal has changed. When I first started this site, it was going to be about the canal as viewed from the Towpath Trail, which will ultimately run over 100 miles from Cleveland to New Philadelphia. But as I discover more and more of the canal, I've realized that the site should be about the canal itself and not just the trail. There is so much more to the Ohio & Erie Canal than what can be viewed from the Towpath Trail, particularly since about 2/3 of the canal is not even serviced by the trail. Also, when I started exploring the canal, I began in Akron since that is where I live. Therefore, my explanations of canal sites and structures on the site made more sense if you discovered the canal in the same way. So the redesigned site will start you off on your journey in Cleveland and will make more sense following the site that way. I hope it will make it easier for you to learn about the canal. I won't be able to get the new pages up all at once, so you'll still see some of the old pages up until I get around to updating them. Keep checking back. This particular page will contain my various ramblings about my discoveries of the canal as I make them. I will include information about canal related events as I get them. I would encourage you to visit the sites listed on the Links page to find out more information about the canal and the various groups that are working to make the canal an enjoyable place to visit. So on to my ramblings. The biggest news I have is that I have discovered Lock 21 North in Akron. It has been commonly thought that the structure was buried when the City of Akron used the area as a dump and solid waste landfill in the 1940's-1960's. But while I was out hiking on the Towpath Trail a few weeks ago, I noticed through the leafless trees a large structure of some sort just west of the trail. It is not visible in the summer when the leaves are on the trees and plants along the trail. So I went to investigate and sure enough, I discovered that it was the remains of Lock 21. Only the east wall of the lock itself remains, and barely any of it at that. But the remains of the tumble for the lock's spillway are also visible just southwest of the wall. I took some pictures, sent them to a member of the Canal Society of Ohio that I know, and he confirmed that it did indeed look like Lock 21. Now I'm not the first human being who has recently discovered it, but I haven't found any documentation by canal buffs that it is out there. The City of Akron has an access road that runs right between the two parts of the remains. They use it to bring in the construction vehicles that they are using to build a retaining basin just on the other side of the river from the Towpath. I doubt the construction workers care what the lock is, but I do. Why the Towpath Trail wasn't plotted to pass next to the lock is unknown to me, but it seems like an oversight. Incidentally, I haven't found any remains of Lock 20, also thought to be buried in the same area. I am pretty sure that it is truly gone. But the discovery of Lock 21 lead me to believe that Lock 23 may have also not truly been destroyed, so I went hunting for it yesterday. But it's gone. I found where it was supposed to be and the sewer trunk runs right there. I found the remains of the spillway which would have been right next to the lock and instead there is just the large concrete tunnel that all of Akron's waste passes through. If you look right behind the Lock 22 Plaza, you can just see the wing wall of Lock 22 with the sewer trunk running right through the canal chamber. So maybe if someone went digging around, they might find some remains of Lock 23, but as it is now, there's nothing there. Next on my "to find" list is the Wolf Creek Aqueduct. A friend of mine and I went out looking for it last week, but came up empty. I have been assured by my CSO contact that it does indeed exist, so I'll have to go hunting again.
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