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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History: Summit Lake is a
natural lake located at the Portage Summit Level of the canal on the
Continental Divide. When the canal was first built, Summit Lake was the
lone water source for the northern part of the canal. The current lake is much smaller than the original
lake in the same location as it was lowered by 9 feet to make it the same
level as the Tuscarawas River and Long Lake. This way the lake could be used as part of
In the late 19th century, two parks competed for business at Summit Lake. The first was Lakeside Park on the east side of the lake and was started by John F. Seiberling. No alcohol was served at Lakeside so a second park was started on the west side of the lake that came to be known as Beerside Park. The latter also offered gambling and vaudeville acts. But Lakeside Park eventually took over Beerside Park and the two joined to form Summit Beach Park, complete with a rollercoaster and other standard amusement park rides. The park was torn down in the early 20th century and now a community center and baseball diamonds occupy the area.
The Towpath Trail is in the planning stages for this section of the canal. Rumor has it that the Towpath will be built on a boardwalk in the water in the section of the lake where the floating towpath existed. The canal resumes its course at the southern end of the river and passes uninterrupted through southern Akron and Kenmore on its way to the Continental Divide and Portage Lakes Feeder System.
A trailhead at Wilbeth Road in south Akron is scheduled to be constructed in 2008.
The historic photo of the floating towpath at Summit Lake is courtesy of Dave Meyer.
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the canal itself. The lake in
its original form stretched all the way into downtown Akron near where the B.F.
Goodrich buildings are located now. The Native Americans used the western
shore of the lake as part of the Portage Path from the Cuyahoga River to
the Tuscarawas. The canal towpath used the bank on the east side of the lake
but the ground became too swampy near the southern end of the lake. To
solve this problem, the
famous floating towpath was built so the mules had solid footing for
pulling the canal boats through the lake. The wooden towpath was made of
planks attached to timbers that literally
floated on the water but would sink slightly as the travelers made their
way along it. This created quite a unique taste to the water as Akron used
the lake as a drinking water supply in its earlier days.