Home / Tuscarawas County / 5-79 The Ohio-Erie Canal 1825-1913 / The Ohio-Erie Canal/Canal Dover Toll House [11]
ALERT: There is another marker 5-79 in Tuscarawas County. Also named 'The Ohio-Erie Canal 1825-1913', it is located in New Philadelphia.
- Title, side A
- The Ohio-Erie Canal 1825-1913
- Title, side B
- The Ohio-Erie Canal/Canal Dover Toll House
- Text, side A
- Seeking an alternate transportation route to distant markets, many farmers and manufacturers in Ohio wanted to connect the Ohio River to Lake Erie with a canal. Beginning in Cleveland the Ohio-Erie Canal ran south, the length of the state, to Portsmouth. The canal was a total of 308 miles long, 40 feet wide at the surface, and 4 feet deep. The Ohio-Erie Canal opened for traffic along its entire length in 1832 and consequently effected great change. Population along the canal increased, and commercial, political, and industrial growth in Ohio boomed. Products grown and manufactured in this previously isolated region now had access to world markets. Profits for farmers and merchants increase, and the entire state economy was bolstered. With the rise of railroads in the 1860s, however, canals were destined to become obsolete because the railroad was a faster and more dependable means of transportation. The canal system ceased to operate altogether after a disastrous flood in 1913.
- Text, side B
- Strategically located along the entire length of the Ohio-Erie Canal were eleven toll houses at Cleveland, Akron, Massillon, Canal Dover, Roscoe, Newark, Carrol, Circleville, Waverly, and Portsmouth. Each canal boat was required to pay a toll or fee for use of the canal. The per-mile rate of the toll was usually in the form of pennies or mills, per weight or container. The Canal Dover Toll House was situated just east of this location between the canal and the Tuscarawas River. (custom art work - map)
- Sponsors
- The Tuscarawas County Historical Society and The Ohio Historical Society
- Address
- 212 W Front Street
Dover, OH 44622 - Location
- NE corner of S Tuscarawas Ave and W Front Street
- Coordinates
- Latitude: 40.5188240, Longitude: -81.4762410.
Google map: