MVOC Canal Trek

Canal Trek
Along The Miami Erie Canal Scenic Trail
Auglaize County, Ohio

Sunday, November 18, 2007

Page last updated on: February 17 2008

Interested in learning about and exploring a bit of Ohio’s history?

This is a day trip to explore and learn about the Miami Erie Canal. We’ll visit the canal towns of Minster, New Bremen and Saint Marys. We’ll take several short hikes along the canal tow path on the Miami Erie Scenic Trail to explore what remains of the canal, locks and aqueducts. Our trip will include a visit to an historical museum. The Miami Erie Canal has a fascinating history. It was completed in 1845 and was dug entirely by hand mostly by immigrant labor. The canals boats carried both freight and people into the Ohio wilderness in the era before railroads. Come hike along the canal tow path and imagine you were there during its heyday. You will need to arrange your own transportation to Minster but from there we’ll board passenger vans for our tour.
Limit 20 people.
Trip Is Full. Contact Andy to be put on waiting list.
View/Download a 7 minute video on the canal.

Canal Trek Itinerary
(subject to change)

8:30am - 9:00 am
Meet in Minster, Ohio
Directions
I-75 north to Exit #93.
Go north (left) on SR-29.
Go west (left) on SR-119 to Minster.

Meet at the Minster Youth Building on SR-119.
Corner of Fourth St (SR-119) & Garfield St.
Across from Wagner's IGA Grocery.
If you pass the Wooden Shoe Inn you have gone too far.
Map

9:00 am
Watch 28 minute video on Ohio's Canal Era

9:30 am
(Those wishing to skip the video can arrive at this time)
Board passenger vans.
Short Driving Tour - Canal in Minster, Dutch Mill, Canal Freight House.

Hike 2.0 miles from SR-119 to New Bremen.

Visit newly restored Lock 1 in New Bremen.
Lunch at Fireside Pub (menu) in New Bremen.
Guided Tour of New Bremen History Museum.

Hike 1.6 miles from SR-219 to Quellhorst Road. Pass sites of Lock 7, Lock 8 (stone), Lock 9 and stone mile marker 128.

Driving Tour - Along east shore of Grand Lake Saint Marys. View bulkhead lock and feeder canal.

Hike 1.1 miles from junction of Saint Marys feeder canal & main canal to downtown St. Marys. See Belle Of Saint Mary's canal boat reproduction in Memorial Park.

Coffee & snack break at the "Rider Express" convenience store in St. Marys.

Driving Tour - Visit Lock 14, Bloody Bridge and Six Mile Creek Aqueduct.

4:30 pm
Return to Minster

All hiking is along the Miami Erie Scenic Trail along the original canal towpath. The hikes are one-way. The two vans are provided at no charge. Participants can contribute to the gas cost if desired. Our van drivers are Rick Thien & Greg Bergman.

Miami Erie Canal History

The Miami and Erie Canal was a canal that connected the Ohio River in Cincinnati, Ohio with Lake Erie in Toledo, Ohio. It consisted of 19 aqueducts, three guard locks, and 103 canal locks. Each lock measured 90 feet by 15 feet and they collectively raised the canal 395 feet above Lake Erie and 513 feet above the Ohio River.

The peak of the canal was called the Loramie Summit and extended 19 miles between New Bremen, Ohio to lock 1-S in Lockington, north of Piqua, Ohio. The system consisted of 301.49 miles of canal channel and was completed at a cost of $8,062,680.07 in 1845. Boats were towed along the canal using either donkeys or horses walking on a prepared towpath along the bank. The boats typically traveled at a rate of four to five miles per hour.

Lock 8 North today - click to enlage - hoover for info

Grand Lake St. Marys, an artificial lake west of St. Marys, Ohio was originally constructed as a reservoir to supply water for the canal. Lake Loramie in Shelby County also was constructed as a reservoir for the canal. Indian Lake in Logan County was greatly enlarged to provide a steadier supply of water for the Sidney feeder. All three lakes are still used for recreation.

Canal Elevation Chart - Click To Enlarge

Completed just before most of the railroads in Ohio were built, the canal competed with railroads through much of its useful life. Ice in the winter, as well as the slowness of the boats, made it less efficient than railroads, and by 1906, the canal had largely ceased to operate. A catastrophic flood of the Great Miami River in 1913 and the subsequent flood control measures constructed by the Miami Conservancy District destroyed much of the canal infrastructure along the southern portion of the route where it paralleled the Great Miami River.

Six Mile Creek Aqueduct
This unique bilevel structure was built in the 1840s to carry the Miami and Erie Canal over Six Mile Creek.

Bloody Bridge Today - Click To Enlarge

An historical marker at Bloody Bridge reads:

During the canal years of the 1850s a rivalry grew between Bill Jones and Jack Billings for the love of Minnie Warren. This became hatred by Bill because Minnie chose Jack. One a fall night in 1854 returning from a party Minnie and Jack were surprised on the bridge by Bill. Armed with an ax, with one swing Bill severed Jack’s head. Seeing this, Minnie screamed and fell from the bridge into a watery grave. Bill disappeared and when a skeleton was found years later in a nearby well, people asked … what it suicide or justice?”

Some people claim the bridge is haunted. Read For Yourself

Miami Erie Scenic Trail

The Miami Erie Scenic Trail is along the original tow path of the Canal. The 40-mile Miami and Erie Scenic Trail is the first state recreational trail designated under the Ohio Trails Act. It runs from Delphos to Loramie Creek. It is also a section of the Buckeye Trail and North Country Scenic trail. Trail maps and mileage. All of the hiking on the Canal Trek will on portions of the Miami Erie Scenic Trail.

One of the many points of interest signs along the Miami Erie Scenic trail.