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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Manchester Road Trailhead Portage Lakes Feeder System
Location: The Manchester Road Trailhead is located on Manchester Road (CanalWay Ohio National Scenic Byway) in south Akron. There is currently no established Towpath Trail north of the trailhead but it is in the planning stages. South of the trailhead, the Towpath Trail runs 5.3 miles to its next ending point at Snyder Avenue.
History: This is an important area in history of the canal. Near the trailhead is the southern terminus of the Portage Path that began at the Cuyahoga River in the area of Old Portage. Appropriately enough, the area south of this terminus was once known as New Portage. The Portage Path was the route used by Native Americans to get their goods from the Cuyahoga River over the Continental Divide to the Tuscarawas River and was once the western boundary of the United States. Just like at the northern terminus, a bronze statue created by Native American sculptor Peter Jones commemorates the location of the trail's southern terminus.
New Portage was originally located near present day Waterloo Road and was an early Native American settlement, the home of Chief Hopocan, also known as Captain Pipe. Later, it became a river port as it was located on the Tuscarawas River. The town contained a hotel, distillery, general store, taverns, and a glass factory. A Typhus outbreak in the mid 1820's all but wiped out the town. Mormon missionaries helped resurrect the town and it became a center of Mormon culture. The town was never officially platted and continued to move further down the Tuscarawas River until it eventually became part of Barberton.
The canal encounters its third river from the north in the Tuscarawas River (following the Cuyahoga and Little Cuyahoga Rivers) just east of the trailhead. The canal turns to the east just south of SR 224 and then heads northeast for a short distance before resuming a generally southward direction again.
Across from the trailhead is Young's Hotel and Restaurant. Originally built in the 1850's, Young's became a popular stopping point on the canal. When the original building burned down in 1907, a new one was built the following year and still stands, although it is currently for sale.
The current water source for the canal is near the trailhead as well. Along with increased traffic on the O&E Canal, the threat of a depleted water source for the operation of the canal due to the construction of the Pennsylvania & Ohio Canal in the 1830's caused the canal commissioners to come up with another water source than just Summit Lake. Thus, the Portage Lakes were created. A complex system of dams, feeders, natural lakes, swamps, and the Tuscarawas River were used to create the Portage Lakes throughout the history of the canal. Water from these lakes enters the canal at the Manchester Road Trailhead.
Feeders from Portage Lakes (left) and Nesmith Lake (right)
About the Structures: The feeder system for the canal at the Portage Summit is rather complicated, if you ask me. To be as brief as possible, here's how it works. The Tuscarawas River is dammed up and the impounded water flows into a feeder channel. This makes the Tuscarawas River much small than it was before human intervention. The feeder channel leads to the East Reservoir which in turn waters the West Reservoir and Turkeyfoot Lake. Another feeder connects the East Reservoir to Long Lake. Long Lake also receives water from the North Reservoir. Long Lake then connects to the canal through the feeder pictured on the above left. Excess water flows through a flood gate back into the Tuscarawas River east of the feeder. A guard lock once existed in the Long Lake feeder so that boats could enter the lake.
The canal also gets water from Nesmith Lake which is connected directly to the canal across from the Manchester Road Trailhead (above right). There doesn't appear to be any means of regulation through this feeder.
Each of the Portage Lakes had a lot of recreational and industrial uses during canal times. Many restaurants, hotels, and mills sprang up around the lakes.
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