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On this site, the Miami and Erie Canal, that came north from Cincinnati and the Ohio River, intersected with the Wabash and Erie Canal that came from Fort Wayne and Evansville, Indiana. From this point, which became the town of Junction, the canals proceeded as one to Defiance, Toledo, and Lake Erie. From the 1830s to the 1870s, the canals played a key role in the settling of Paulding County, an area that was once a part of the Great Black Swamp. They held the promise of easier and quicker passenger transportation and commodity shipping and Junction became a landmark for fugitive slaves escaping to Canada. Once a thriving and growing community, the village of Junction became a forgotten historical note with the passing of the canal era and the coming of the railroads. Today, the Buckeye Trail and North County Trail follow the canal path through Paulding County.
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Built for Waverly industrialist James Emmitt in 1861, The Emmitt House was partly the work of carpenter Madison Hemings, who claimed parentage by President Thomas Jefferson. It served as a tavern and store for travelers on the Ohio-Erie Canal that passed directly in front of the hotel. The Emmitt House was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978 as a key part of the Waverly Canal District, which encompasses many of the canal-era residential and commercial buildings in the downtown area. It underwent a year-long restoration project in 1989 that retained its historical flavor and design. It continues to provide hospitality to both residents and travelers.
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The town of Providence was born, thrived and died with the Miami & Erie Canal. It was platted in 1835 by French trader Peter Manor, swept by fire in 1846, ravaged by cholera in 1854, and finally unincorporated in 1928. Today, only the Irish builders’ St. Patrick’s Church (1845), the oldest in the Toledo Diocese; the cemetery; and Peter Manor’s house (1845) remain. The Providence Dam, built in 1838 to create a water supply for the canal’s remaining 25 miles to Toledo, was rebuilt in 1908. Peter Manor’s mill stands downstream one-half mile at Canal Lock #9, where it was built in 1822, rebuilt in 1846, and operates today as the Isaac Ludwig Historic Mill. The National Historic Register of Historic Places listed this district in 1975, the mill in 1974.
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Milan was a leading Great Lakes port after the completion of the 3 mile Milan Canal in 1839. Center of activity was the Milan Basin at this site where produce was brought from area farms for shipment to lake and world ports through 14 warehouses by as many as 20 schooners a day. Seventy-five vessels were built in the basin. Railroad competition and the flood of 1868 ended Milan’s port activity.
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Originally known as Hocking Furnace, Haydenville was founded by and named for Columbus industrialist Peter Hayden (1806-1888), who energetically developed the coal, iron, sandstone, and fire clay deposits found in abundance in this area. Here he operated an iron furnace, coal mines and sandstone quarries, shipping products on the Hocking Canal and, later, the Hocking Valley Railroad he helped build. The incorporation of the Haydenville Mining and Manufacturing Company in 1882 initiated the manufacture of brick and ceramic tile from fire clay. Business boomed in the late 19th century as cities paved their streets with brick and fireproof construction became popular in the wake of widely publicized and tragic fires.
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Miami & Erie Canal and Napoleon’s First Cemetery. The Miami & Erie Canal stretched approximately 250 miles from Cincinnati to Toledo. Napoleon and other towns on the Maumee River’s banks were on a slackwater section of the canal. Between 1825 and 1845, laborers constructed the canal using shovels, picks, wheelbarrows, and horse and mule-drawn carts. In Henry County, Napoleon, and elsewhere, German and Irish immigrants and area farmers did the work and were paid around 30 cents a day. As the canal brought more people and business to the area, villages such as Florida, Damascus, and Texas flourished and the county seat of Napoleon boomed. The canal and consequent growth took their tolls, however. Sickness and disease such as “ague” (malaria) and cholera spread and carried off many. Napoleon’s first cemetery was located in the vicinity of 500 East Clinton Street, near the route of the canal.
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Seeking an alternative 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 increased, 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.
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Completed in 1837, the limestone lock nine served as a catalyst for the growth of Piqua. The lock helped connect the village to Cincinnati (1837) and Toledo (1845) by way of the Miami and Erie Canal. German immigrants traveled up the canal from Cincinnati and settled within a five-block area of the lock. Industries used the lock as a source of water power and developed products as diverse as flannel, flour, and flax seed. Lock nine remained as a functioning part of the canal until its destruction during the flood of 1913.
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