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Carillon Historical Park: Canal Superintendent’s Office (photo diary) [1]

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Date: 2023-03-27  

According to the display:

“Canal construction began in 1825. In 1829, the first boat arrived in Dayton from Cincinnati. The canal played an important role in Dayton’s growth. In the first 10 years of its operation the population more than doubled, businesses flourished, and farmers found new markets for their goods.”

The Miami and Erie Canal was 248 miles long. In building the canal, workers were paid thirty cents a day plus a jigger of whiskey. A day’s work was from sunrise until sunset.

Shown above is a diorama of the canal.

Railroads meant the end of canal traffic. By 1850, there were 375 miles of railroad tracks in Ohio and a decade later, in 1860, this had grown to 2,946 miles. Railroads were faster and cheaper and from 1856 onward the canals ceased to generate revenue for the state. According to the display:

“For the next 70 years, the state and its citizens hotly debated whether to save or abandon the canals. The Miami and Erie Canal fell into disrepair as boats used it less and less. Ohio abandoned or leased various sections to private companies and for railroads. In Dayton and other cities the canal became a disease-breeding, foul smelling public nuisance and eyesore.”

The last canal boat came to Dayton in 1909. By the early 1910s, boat traffic on the canal was gone and its waters were used by factories and mills. The 1913 flood damaged the canal’s infrastructure.

Shown above is the stairway down to the lock.

According to the display:

“Locks were used to raise and lower boats from one elevation of land to another. Three large feeder lakes provided a fresh supply of water to the canal: Grand Lake St. Marys, Lake Loramie, and Indian Lake.”

More museum exhibits

Carillon Historical Park: A Shaker building (photo diary)

Carillon Historical Park: Dayton Cyclery (photo diary)

Carillon Historical Park: Newcom Tavern (photo diary)

Carillon Historical Park: Model railroad (photo diary)

Carillon Historical Park: Horse Barn (photo diary)

Carillon Historical Park: Bootleggers, Bandits, and Badges (photo diary)

Carillon Historical Park: Sugar Camp Cabin 22 (photo diary)

Museums 101: A collection of beer steins (photo diary)

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/3/27/2160174/-Carillon-Historical-Park-Canal-Superintendent-s-Office-photo-diary

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