An Inquisitive Visitor's
Guide to the
Ohio & Erie Canal and Towpath Trail
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An Inquisitive Visitor's
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New Philadelphia Lateral Canal Junction
About the Area: Since the Ohio & Erie Canal proper bypassed New Philadelphia, the canal commissioners agreed to construct a sidecut to connect the canal to the county seat. By the late 1830's, the New Philadelphia Lateral Canal was operational and remained so until the 1860's. By that time, it had fallen into disuse due to the coming of the railroad and was simply used as a hydraulic race.
The Baker Dam was augmented on the Tuscarawas River to provide a slackwater. There are still remains of this dam on the river. Because the guard lock for the Sugar Creek Basin was located a significant distance below the basin, there was room to construct the outlet for the canal boats into the Tuscarawas River, including a lift lock to raise boats to the level of the slackwater. Once across the river, the boats would enter a guard lock and then the Lateral Canal. There are supposedly ruins of the lift lock still visible.
Lock 13 South (Portage Summit Level) - Blake's Mills Lock
Lock 13 South looking south
Lock 14 South (Portage Summit Level) - New Castle Lock
Lock 14 South looking northwest
About the Lock: Approximately 2 miles below Lock 13 sits Lock 14 on private property. SR 416 follows the route of the towpath past the lock while the spillway was on the opposite side of the lock.
<< Continue North | Continue South >> |
About the Lock: Lock 13 was
called Blake's Mills Lock because a small village grew up around the lock
that was laid out by Walter Blake in 1833 and was called Blake's Mills. A
large five story mill was erected near the lock in 1850 (Blake's Mill) and
stood until it was demolished in 1995. Blake's Mills eventually became
known as Lockport before being absorbed into New Philadelphia. The lock
itself is still intact today but the spillway, which ran to the west of
the lock, and its tumble, which was located a short distance to the south
of the lock, were destroyed with the construction of SR 416. The 12' lift
of the lock was the greatest in Tuscarawas County. An Ohio Historical
Marker is located at the lock today.