Canal has past rooted in history, engineering wonders

It winds its way through western Ohio and is the hallmark feature of St. Marys and New Bremen but there is always more to learn more about the Miami and Erie Canal as well as the other canal systems that crisscross the state. On Wednesday afternoon, St. Marys Rotarians got a lesson on what it took to build and operate the canal system in the state as they welcomed Johnston Farm and Indian Agency Site Manager Andy Hite to their weekly meeting.

As manager of the historic farm named for John Johnston, one of the country’s early canal commissioners, Hite had lots of information to share on how these vital, manmade waterways got their start.

“He was responsible primarily for getting the western canal finished,” Hite said of Johnston.

Hite explained that the original name of the western canal was the Miami Canal and it was supposed to connect the Ohio River and the city of Dayton but go no farther north. The canal was eventually extended northward in 1845 when the state of Indiana wanted to tap into the canal system, connecting the landlocked state to Lake Erie via a canal along the Wabash River.

Residents of the towns in between the two also

wanted access to the canals, creating the Miami and Erie Canal.

“We often think of the canal connecting Toledo and Cincinnati but really it wasn’t built for that,” Hite said. “The idea with the canal is that people living in places like St. Marys or Piqua, someplace like that, the raw materials from farmers could go out and finished products could then come in. The idea wasn’t to have things go completely across the state.”

He also explained that the canal didn’t tie in directly to Lake Erie or the Ohio River because of flooding concerns but rather connected to feeder rivers that then led into the larger water sources.

With the route of the canal decided, then came the challenges of building and paying for the multimillion dollar project of building more than 1,000 miles of canals across the state.

The project was financed through the sale of stocks and bonds that were sold across the country and the world.

“They knew that Ohio products were going to come out of the state and there would be a market for these products,” Hite said.

With funds secured, workforces comprised mostly of German- and Irish-American laborers who had recently finished construction of a canal system in the state of New York. Crews would work with nothing more than pick axes, shovels and carts to dig the canals.

“Think about that; these guys dug a ditch that was 40 feet wide, four feet deep and 266 miles long with nothing but pick axes and shovels,” he said. “These guys really were a skilled labor force; there was a real knack for building these canals. They’re doing this, a lot of times, through swampy land and land that wasn’t easy to work through, often in muck up to their waists but they built a canal that didn’t leak and it worked.”

Although considered skilled labor, the pay didn’t start out on the high end of the scale. In the 1830s when work first began, general laborers were paid only 50 cents a day. Pay was slightly higher for foremen (62 cents a day) and masons or carpenters (75 cents a day) but the value of the work the crews were doing grew as the years went on and canals were seen as even more valuable. By the 1860s, general laborers were making $1.50 each day.

But the work didn’t come without risk.

“They said about 3,000 people were employed in building the canals in Ohio from 1825 to 1845 and the story goes that for every mile of canal, an Irishman lost his life,” said Hite. “So if you think about it, one in three people passed away building canals. They were building through a lot of swamp land so they weren’t very healthy and there were industrial accidents and things like that. Longevity was not the suit of the canal worker.”

Through hard labor and loss of life, the Miami and Erie Canal was completed in about 20 years and became the main thoroughfare for goods entering the area and raw materials heading out. During the height of the canal era, there were about 400 boats that operated on the Miami and Erie Canal alone meaning there was plenty of opportunity for growth and expansion in towns.

Those looking to get in touch with the history of Ohio’s canals are welcome to visit JohnstonFarmOhio.com. Hite noted that the farm — located at 9845 N. Hardin Road in Piqua — hopes to be back open for regular operation in the summer.