An Inquisitive Visitor's
Guide to the
Ohio & Erie Canal and Towpath Trail
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An Inquisitive Visitor's
Guide to the |
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The Akron skyline looking northeast. The canal traversed Akron from left to right in the picture.
History: The Lock 3 Live Amphitheater opened in the early part of the 21st century, creating a much needed green space within the boundaries of downtown Akron. The park is not actually a trailhead for the Towpath Trail, but since it is the location of the start of the next completed section of the trail, it is included here. The canal can be seen reemerging from under the Civic Theatre north of the the amphitheater and continues, watered, all the way across the Portage Summit to Barberton and Lock 1 south.
Lock 3 North (Portage Summit Level) - Boat Yard Lock
Lock 3 looking west
About the Lock: Lock 3 is the first exposed lock along the canal in downtown Akron since Lock 10 in the Cascade Locks Park. It is watered and the walls are in good repair. It is missing the gates and associated structures, but could be rebuilt rather easily it seems. The current Towpath Trail runs along the south side of the lock which lies east-west. But in the canal days, the path approached the lock on the north side and crossed the lock over a bridge on the downstream side of the lock to its present location. When the trail is completed from the Steam Plant Trailhead, it will likely follow the original towpath course by approaching Lock 3 from the north. The spillway for the lock was rather long, starting south of State Street and reentering the canal farther east on the south side.
As the name suggests, a boat yard and dry dock once existed at this location. The first was built in the 1830's by Joseph Perkins (a relative of Akron's founder), Seth Iredell (one of Akron's early mayors), Richard Howe (the Ohio & Erie Canal's Commissioner), and Ansel Miller. One of the more famous boat builders in Akron was William Payne who owned a dry dock at Lock 3 before selling it and moving to a new location at Lock 2. A pottery factory sat at Lock 3 in the years following the canal's demise before it was replaced by the O'Neil's parking deck that has recently been removed to open the park up.
Location: Lock 2 Park is located behind Canal Park Stadium in downtown Akron. It is accessible from the CanalWay Ohio National Scenic Byway (Main Street) by turning west on Exchange Street and then north onto Water Street, but it is easier to walk there from State Street.
History: Lock 2, like Lock 3, was the site of a busy boat yard during the canal days. Opened in the 1980's, the park was the city's first attempt to remember its canal heritage. The metal "ghost frame" replica of a canal boat is the centerpiece of the park and is located in the area where a dry dock once was located. It is built to scale and contains a "wayside" of sorts along its back "wall" explaining the history of the canal and the area. The park has seen increased traffic in recent years due to the opening of Canal Park, home of the Akron Aeros baseball team, the AA affiliate of the Cleveland Indians.
Lock 2 was located in the original town of Akron as platted by General Simon Perkins. When Perkins learned of the plans for a canal, he bought a large amount of property on the summit and convinced the canal commissioners to route the canal through his land. Akron became a town in 1825, the same year construction began on the canal. The Ohio & Erie Canal had a direct effect on the growth of Akron as one of the leading manufacturing centers in the Midwest during the late 1800's and early 1900's. At one time or another, Akron lead the nation in production of breakfast cereal, sewer pipe, farm machinery, and of course, rubber.
Lock 2 North (Portage Summit Level) - Dry Dock Lock
Lock 2 looking south from the west side of the canal
About the Lock: Lock 2 is the second of the two restored locks on the northern section of the Ohio & Erie Canal. In its present state, it is not able to accommodate a canal boat because a bridge is built across the middle of the lock for access to the dry dock on the other side of the canal. The gates do not work as well since they aren't completely solid and don't contain wickets. The northern gates are always closed while the southern gates are always open. The towpath passed to the east of the lock as it does today and the spillway, newly reconstructed in concrete, passes on the west side of the lock.
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Location: Lock 3 Park is located
on the west side of South Main Street in Akron next to the Akron Civic
Theatre. It is accessible from the CanalWay Ohio National Scenic Byway
(Main Street).
A toll
collector in the early days of the canal named Colonel Lewis Buckley
built a foundry and plow works at the lock. There was also a saw mill at
the lock that was partly owned by Richard Howe, the local canal
commissioner. In later years, the lock became famous for the boat yard
and dry dock built there by William Payne (