Pennsylvania and Ohio Canal - History

History

In Warren, Ohio, at a convention held on November 13, 1833, 109 delegates decided to privately fund the Pennsylvania and Ohio Canal as neither state felt it should spend money on a canal that led to another state. Construction began on September 17, 1835, when the two engineers of the canal struck iron stakes in the ground at the center of what was known as the "Portage Summit" between what is now Kent, Ohio, and Ravenna. Workers manually dug the 82 miles (132 km) of the P & O using picks, shovels, and wheelbarrows. It ran from New Castle, Pennsylvania, to Akron, Ohio, meeting the Ohio and Erie Canal in downtown Akron. It ran along old Native American trails and the Cuyahoga and Mahoning Rivers. In Northeast Ohio, Lake Pippen and Brady Lake were water sources for the canal. Large celebrations occurred along the canal's route when it officially opened on August 4, 1840.

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