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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Lock 1 North (Portage Summit Level)
Looking into Lock 1 from Exchange Street
About the Lock: Lock 1 is the last of the locks on the northern section of the canal. It sits just south of Exchange Street in Akron and is still watered. It is used by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Water today. Apparently it can be drained for use as a dry dock today. The Towpath Trail does not pass the lock close enough to see it from the trail. It turns east before passing under Exchange Street and returning to its original location south Lock 1. The canal itself passes through a metal culvert under Exchange Street.
The spillway for the lock was on the west side of the canal but was apparently gone by the end of the canal era as it is not seen on the Sillman Survey of the canal in 1914. There were many businesses in the area of the lock, among them a grocery store, a bar, the Browning Hotel, the Clarendon Hotel, a paper mill, and a factory that became International Harvester during the era when Akron was one of the world's leaders in farm machinery manufacturing. A number of warehouses and a locktender's house also existed here.
Lock 1 is at Mile 38 on the canal, meaning that Lake Erie was 38 miles away by travel on the canal. The entrance to the Lower Basin of the canal was just north of the lock. From the southern end of the lock, the canal crossed over the Portage Summit for nine miles before encountering another lock, Lock 1 South at Wolf Creek.
Lower Basin
Approximate location of the Lower Basin, south of Cedar Street
About the Basin: This is the area that the Lower Basin of the canal in downtown Akron was once located. It stretched from Exchange Street to south of the now nonexistent Chestnut Street. The Lower Basin sat four feet lower than the Upper Basin (hence the names) which was located just south of the Lower Basin. Many boats could "park" in the basin when not making a run on the canal. The basin connected to the canal north of Lock 1.
During the heyday of the canal era, Akron actually was served by two canals, the Ohio & Erie Canal and the Pennsylvania & Ohio Canal. The P&O Canal came into Akron from the northeast, traveled down Main Street where it shared space with Crosby's Cascade Mill Race, and entered the Lower Basin where boats could connect with the O&E Canal. The P&O Canal had a much shorter life than the O&E Canal with full operations running from 1840-1850 and complete demise by 1869.
Upper Basin
Ohio & Erie Canal south of Cedar Street with the Goodrich Corporation in the background - approximate location of the Upper Basin
About the Basin: This is the area where the Upper Basin once sat. The basin was bought by B.F. Goodrich and filled in for a parking lot. It was actually the canal bed itself widened for use as a basin. At the southern end of the basin was a guard lock that is no longer in existence. The Brewster Coal Company was located here as was a warehouse in the early days built by Richard Howe where religious meeting were held before churches were built in Akron. Besides B.F. Goodrich, another large industry was located in this area - the Diamond Match Company. It's founder, O.C. Barber later moved his business farther south on the canal to a new town that he created and gave his name to - Barberton. Today, besides the Goodrich Corporation, the largest business in this area is Advanced Elastomer Systems which is helping Akron establish its latest legacy as one of the world's leader in polymer science technology.
The current Towpath Trail ends just south of here behind the Spaghetti Warehouse. It picks up again at Bartges Street.
Thornton Street Trailhead
The current Towpath Trail begins again just north of Thornton Street at Bartges Street. The City of Akron maintains the asphalt biking trail here on its way to Summit Lake, where it currently ends again.
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