Pennsylvania and Ohio Canal | |
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Specifications | |
Status | Generally abandoned except for historic interest |
History | |
Construction began | 1835 |
Date completed | 1840 |
Date closed | 1877 |
Geography | |
Start point | New Castle, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
End point | Akron, Ohio, U.S. |
Connects to | Beaver and Erie Canal, Ohio and Erie Canal |
Pennsylvania and Ohio Canal: Ohio portion | |
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The Pennsylvania and Ohio Canal, also known as the P & O Canal, the Cross Cut Canal and the Mahoning Canal, was a shipping canal which operated from 1840 until 1877, though the canal was completely abandoned by 1872. It connected canals in two states, the Ohio and Erie Canal in Ohio and the Beaver and Erie Canal in Pennsylvania, and was funded by private interests.
In Warren, Ohio, during a convention on November 13, 1833, 109 delegates decided to privately fund the Pennsylvania and Ohio Canal [1] since neither state felt it should spend money on a canal that led to another state. Construction began on September 17, 1835, when the two engineers of the canal struck iron stakes in the ground at the center of what was known as the "Portage Summit" between present-day Kent and Ravenna in Ohio. Workers manually dug the 82 miles (132 km) of the canal using picks, shovels, and wheelbarrows.
The canal ran from New Castle, Pennsylvania to Akron, Ohio, where it met the Ohio and Erie Canal in downtown Akron. [2] [3] It ran along old Native American trails and the Cuyahoga and Mahoning Rivers. In Northeast Ohio, Brady Lake, and other water sources for used by the canal. [4] Large celebrations occurred along the canal's route when it officially opened on August 4, 1840. [5]
As with other canals in the region, mules and horses pulled the canal boats that navigated the P & O. Using this and other canals, goods and passengers were ferried from Pittsburgh to Cleveland and Lake Erie. This contributed to trade between Northeast Ohio and other Eastern states making towns and villages along the canal larger and more prosperous. [5] Some have also credited the canal with the development of the iron ore industry in the Mahoning Valley in Ohio.
With the arrival and expansion of railroads, the canal gradually diminished. All sections of the canal were abandoned by 1872 and the canal was officially closed in 1877 and all remaining property was sold off. [2] Today, traces of the canal's bed remain in many areas of Northeast Ohio including Munroe Falls, Ohio [5] and downtown Kent, Ohio, where the Cuyahoga River runs through the former canal lock. A P & O Canal culvert, sometimes referred to as an aqueduct, remains in southern Kent over Plum Creek just south of the Cuyahoga River. [4]
Portage County is a county in the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 census, the population was 161,791. Located in Northeast Ohio, Portage County is part of the Akron Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the Cleveland–Akron–Canton Combined Statistical Area. Its county seat is Ravenna and its largest city is Kent. The county, named for the portage between the Cuyahoga and Tuscarawas rivers, was created in 1807 and formally organized in 1808. In addition to the cities of Kent and Ravenna, Portage County also includes the cities of Aurora and Streetsboro, along with five villages, 18 civil townships, and several unincorporated places within those townships. Additionally, the county includes parts of the city of Tallmadge, and part of the village of Mogadore, both of which are mostly in neighboring Summit County.
Northeast Ohio is a geographic and cultural region that comprises the northeastern counties of the U.S. state of Ohio. Definitions of the region consist of 16 to 23 counties between the southern shore of Lake Erie and the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, home to over 4.5 million people. It is anchored by the metropolitan area of Cleveland, the most populous city in the region with over 372,000 residents in 2020. Other metropolitan centers include Akron, Canton, Mansfield, Sandusky, and Youngstown. Northeast Ohio includes most of the area known historically as the Connecticut Western Reserve.
Cuyahoga Valley National Park is an American national park in Ohio that preserves and reclaims the rural landscape along the Cuyahoga River between Akron and Cleveland in Northeast Ohio.
The Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway, established in 1833, and sometimes referred to as the Lake Shore, was a major part of the New York Central Railroad's Water Level Route from Buffalo, New York, to Chicago, Illinois, primarily along the south shore of Lake Erie and across northern Indiana. The line's trackage remains a major rail transportation corridor used by Amtrak passenger trains and several freight lines; in 1998, its ownership was split at Cleveland, Ohio, between CSX Transportation to the east and Norfolk Southern Railway in the west.
The Ohio and Erie Canal was a canal constructed during the 1820s and early 1830s in Ohio. It connected Akron with the Cuyahoga River near its outlet on Lake Erie in Cleveland, and a few years later, with the Ohio River near Portsmouth. It also had connections to other canal systems in Pennsylvania.
Irishtown Bend is the name given to both a former Irish American neighborhood and a landform located on the Flats of the west bank of the Cuyahoga River in the city of Cleveland in the U.S. state of Ohio in the United States. The landform consists of a tight meander in the Cuyahoga River, and the steep hillside above this meander.
Botzum was a hamlet in Northampton Township, Summit County, Ohio around what is now the intersection of Bath and Riverview Roads in Akron and Cuyahoga Falls.
Summit Metro Parks is a Metroparks system serving the citizens of Summit County, Ohio by managing 14,000 acres (5,700 ha) in 16 developed parks, six conservation areas and more than 150 miles (240 km) of trails, with 22.4 miles (36.0 km) of the Ohio & Erie Canal Towpath Trail.
The Akron, OH Metropolitan Statistical Area, sometimes referred to as Greater Akron, is defined by the United States Office of Management and Budget as an area consisting of two counties, Summit and Portage, in Northeast Ohio and anchored by the city of Akron. As of the 2020 census, the MSA had a population of 702,219. The Akron MSA is also part of the larger Cleveland–Akron–Canton, OH Combined Statistical Area, which has a population of 3,633,962 people as of the 2020 census, the largest metropolitan area in Ohio.
General Simon Perkins was an early settler, businessman and surveyor of the Western Reserve of Connecticut, which would later become northeast Ohio. He co-founded Akron, Ohio, with Paul Williams in 1825. He served as a brigadier-general during the War of 1812.
Whiskey Island is a peninsula at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River at Lake Erie in Cleveland, Ohio. Its current configuration was created in 1827 when the river's mouth was moved to its present location. Part of the city's Cuyahoga Valley neighborhood, the peninsula is 1 mile (1.6 km) long and 0.3 miles (0.48 km) at its widest, bounded by Lake Erie to the north, West 54th Street on the west (roughly), and the Cuyahoga River to the south and east.
The area now occupied by the city of Kent, Ohio, was previously inhabited by various Native American tribes until the 19th century. Though little record of any settlement exists, the area was located along several known trails. One example of Native American inhabitants in the area can be found at Towner’s Woods Park where a mound is located. In 1798 it was sold to Aaron Olmsted as part of the Connecticut Western Reserve. He initially named the area "Franklin" after his son, Aaron Franklin Olmsted. The first settlers, the Haymaker family, arrived in late 1805, having been attracted to the area by the Cuyahoga River and its potential for powering gristmills.
The Cascade Locks Historic District is a historic district located in Akron, Ohio. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1992.
Cuyahoga Valley is a neighborhood on the Central and South Side of Cleveland, Ohio, located along the Cuyahoga River. Formerly known as Industrial Valley, the neighborhood was originally limited to only one section of the geographic Cuyahoga River Valley, but the city expanded it in 2012 to include the entire valley area. The present neighborhood includes the Flats and extends from the peninsula of Whiskey Island on Lake Erie in the north to the borders of the suburbs of Newburgh Heights and Cuyahoga Heights in the south. To the east, it borders Downtown Cleveland and the neighborhoods of Broadway–Slavic Village and Central. To the west, it borders the neighborhoods of Detroit–Shoreway, Ohio City, Tremont, and Brooklyn Centre.
The Valley Railway was a shortline railroad which operated between the city of Cleveland and small town of Zoarville in the state of Ohio in the United States. The railroad was founded in 1871, but the first segment of track did not open until 1880 and the line was not completed until 1884. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) obtained a controlling interest in the Valley Railway in 1890. The railroad went bankrupt in 1895, at which time it was reorganized as The Cleveland Terminal and Valley Railroad Company (CT&V). The B&O took over operation of the CT&V in 1909, and the company was merged with the B&O in 1915.
The Cleveland Foundation Centennial Lake Link Trail, originally known as the Lake Link Trail, is a cycling, hiking, and walking trail located in the city of Cleveland, Ohio, in the United States. Owned by the city of Cleveland and maintained by Cleveland Metroparks, the trail runs along the former track bed of the Cleveland and Mahoning Valley Railroad. The trail is named for The Cleveland Foundation, a local community foundation which donated $5 million toward the trail's construction. The southern leg of the 1.3-mile (2.1 km) trail opened in August 2015, and the northern leg in August 2017. The middle leg will begin construction once the Irishtown Bend hillside is stabilized. A bridge connecting the trail to Whiskey Island will begin construction in Spring 2019 and will be completed in early Summer 2020.
The Cleveland and Mahoning Valley Railroad (C&MV) was a shortline railroad operating in the state of Ohio in the United States. Originally known as the Cleveland and Mahoning Railroad (C&M), it was chartered in 1848. Construction of the line began in 1853 and was completed in 1857. After an 1872 merger with two small railroads, the corporate name was changed to "Cleveland and Mahoning Valley Railroad". The railroad leased itself to the Atlantic and Great Western Railway in 1863. The C&MV suffered financial instability, and in 1880 its stock was sold to a company based in London in the United Kingdom. A series of leases and ownership changes left the C&MV in the hands of the Erie Railroad in 1896. The CM&V's corporate identity ended in 1942 after the Erie Railroad completed purchasing the railroad's outstanding stock from the British investors.
Akron Union Station was a series of three union stations serving several passenger railroads in Akron, Ohio from 1852 to 1971. The station's tenants included the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad, Pennsylvania Railroad and Erie Railroad. It was a hub, serving train companies serving destinations in different directions, west, north, south and east.