The Indiana Central Canal
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- Опубліковано 19 кві 2022
- Though nearly forgotten now as they have become largely obsolete in the face of rail and road, canals were for a time the end-all be-all of transportation technology, and the building of a canal could guarantee prosperity for the towns it traveled through. Hoping to get in on the game, the state of Indiana planned the Central Indiana canal, meant to connect the Ohio river to the already existing canal network And then everything went wrong.
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Script by JCG
#history #thehistoryguy #Indiana
It is said that the canal debacle led to the ongoing fiscal conservatism in Indiana. The legislature never wanted to be in that fiscal position ever again. Indiana is one of the few states with a budget surplus.
Yes, Suzanne, the true positive of canal fever in Indiana is that it led to balanced budgets and spending restrictions which protect the Great State of Indiana to this very day.
And unfortunately very poor government services. 😞
We also got some of the worst conditioned roads too lol
Well said. It was one of only two states (the other being Texas) during the period of the 2008-2010 financial crisis that operated with a surplus. To this day, whenever taxes or financing seems a bit sketchy, the words "that damned canal project" can be heard on the 3rd floor (legislative section) of the Indiana State House. Nice to see the History Guy was in Indianapolis to get his pic on the canal of today.
The state of Minnesota has a surplus of 9.6 billion dollars. Only because they tax everything but food and clothing! Of course the libtards are fighting about how to spend it instead of returning it to the taxpayers!
My hubs is a Hoosier and I am gonna send this to him to watch (born and raised on the west side of Indy). I lived in Indy with him for a few years but I was sooo happy to move back to Arizona. The one thing I do truly miss about Indiana is the month of May. Hoosiers will know what I mean.
"The new-mown hay in all its fragrance... When I dream about the moonlight on the Wabash...then I long for my Indiana home."
@@kesmarn I got to see Jim Nabors sing that for the last time. Not gonna lie, brought tears to my eyes.
Gentlemen, start your engines!!!
I love learning about my state. This Hoosier thanks you, History Guy!
I agree 👍
Ditto - from another Hoosier
Me too! I'm up in the region. We're the only weirdos on Chicago time. I work in Chicago but love Indianapolis! I probably could have financed this canal if I had back half of what the wife and daughters have blown in circle center mall. 🙄
@@whiskeybuilder6335 lol 😆, I wish we was on central time, we're close to Chicago than New York. Btw I'm in the warsaw area
@@harmab2 Have you ever heard that the origin for the word "Hoosiers'" was derived from an Indiana canal builder? He recognized the financial benefits of taking pre-trained men on his nation wide canal ventures. When gangs of hillbillies would invade a town the locals would ask "who are they?". The answer was that they are Hoosiers'. Meaning the group almost entirely made up of Indiana residents. Anyone that claimed to be from Indiana were assumed to be part of Hoosiers' crew.
I'm local to the connecting point of this and I am happy as hell to finally get some info on it.
The tow paths of the canals and especially the Wabash & Erie canal, were later used us the road beds to support the network of interurban rail lines.
The canal entered the Ohio River in Evansville, Indiana. When the canal was abandoned, it was filled in and that thoroughfare is now known as Canal Street.
Thanks for the history lesson I remember learning about this in my 4th grade Indiana history class...all except the bankruptcy! The canal from broad ripple to downtown is a great place to ride your bike; very picturesque with lots of places to stop along the way including the Indianapolis Museum of Art and Butler University.
I was the project superintendent for the contractor that converted the final section of the Central Canal into the starting point of the Indy Canal Walk in 1999/2000. It was one of my favorite projects and won a Corps of Engineers Outstanding Achievement award. The waterfall and basin are my favorite part of the Canal. Good memories. Nice story!
Having an unfinished canal in downtown Indy is a bit odd to say the least, but it is extremely popular area today. :D
I was born and raised in Indy. I remember the canal restoration project of '85. The Baltimore Colts had just moved to Indy and the town was looking to re-invent itself as a tourist destination. Or, at least some kind of destination.
I had the chance to walk IN the Central (we call it Broad Ripple) Canal from Michigan Road up to the locks on White River in Broad Ripple. The canal wall had suffered a wall blow out in 1992, and was draining downhill into White River behind Butler University. This posed a threat to the downtown Indianapolis water supply, so, for the first time ever, they had to shut off the water locks at the start of the canal in Broad Ripple to effect repairs downstream, allowing it to be dry for several weeks. My brother and I walked down the canal bed, which was mostly silt and weeds, with the occasional remnants of a gigantic carp or desiccated 2 foot long catfish along the way. I'd always thought the canal to be deep, but time has filled it with silt, and in reality it averages between 3-5 feet along most of the way in that area (it was bone dry when we walked it).
I WAS BORN AND RAISED IN SYRACUSE NEW YORK! The Erie Canal is a deep part of Syracuse history.
Hello from Buffalo 👋
@@stein1385 hello, from San Francisco. I got tired of the lake effect snow. 👀
I live near Wabash Indiana. Parts of the canal are still there in Largo. Its pretty neat and parts are still partially full of water. You can see where the hinges were on the locks.
Living here in Las Vegas. The last canal I saw 👀 was a Root Canal🤣 Waka Waka!
I live near Defiance, Ohio and as you travel along the Maumee River to Toledo you can see remnants of the Erie Canal. The stories/history that could be told if they could talk.
☑️ It's funny how you occasionally hear questions like "how many people in the central US have never seen the ocean"? But after hearing you and others talk about the inner US states, I suddenly realize that with the exception of a cross country work trip in the early 80s with my dad, from Philly to LA and Phoenix, I've literally never been any further inland than Asheville in western NC, or the Appalachian region of PA and Va.
I've never been to ANY of the states just to the west of the eastern states of NC, Pa and Delaware where I've lived. Never been to Ohio, Indiana, Tennessee, or even western Pennsylvania!
You can take a mule drawn canal boat across the river from Grand Raipids ,Ohio at Ludwig mill .It is a remnants of the old Miami Erie canal .
Fort Wayne native/resident love learning about my city and state
Thanks for teaching about a forgotten mode of transportation. I often wondered why Indianapolis had a waterway; did not know it was part of a planned canal.
I grew up in New Haven, IN, east of Ft. Wayne and was very familiar with the history of the canal. New Haven annually celebrates (celebrated?) "Canal Days" in June. It was always my understanding that the railroads were largely responsible for the demise of the canal system and I had no idea of the vast expense/debt incurred by their construction. Sometime after I had graduated High School in 1989, the state built an interstate bypass (I-469) around Ft. Wayne, encompassing New Haven. During it's construction one of the original canal locks was discovered and is now mostly preserved in the Indiana State History Museum in Indianapolis. I haven't lived there since 1989 when I joined the USAF, but I still have family in the area.
Fort Wayne resident, here. Yes, New Haven still celebrates Canal Days. Stop in sometime!
I grew up in Brown County between Nashville and Bloomington and also graduated in 1989 , although I didn't join the Air Force until 1991. :)
@@kaybrown4010 - I haven't lived in Indiana since I graduated High School. I currently reside in Mobile, AL and only get home about once every five years.
Great episode, I live in Indianapolis and cross over the broad ripple Canal all most everyday, great to hear you talk about our wonderful City Indianapolis. Thanks
Me too. Franklin Township.
Same here. I nearly spit out my drink when he mentioned Broad Ripple, was there all the time as a kid and had no idea that water had such a historical significance
I’m a SoBro guy 😁
Indianapolis really preserved the Central Canal. I live up north in Logansport, where the canal came across the Eel River
@@karenhaller9988 , as soon as I seen Indiana I said All right!! Got to watch this.
I lived in Indianapolis for 20 years and only new a little of the canal history. Thank you so much for this wonderful information!!
Thank you for the history lesson on the Indianapolis Central Canal. It has turned from a brackish eyesore to a beautiful piece of Indianapolis infrastructure, enjoyed by residents and visitors alike. Well done, HG!!!
Thank for this report. I too lived in Broad Ripple area for 20 years as a youth and crossed over the canal innumerable times. The Whitewater and Central canal serve today as recreational and historical tourist areas. providing a benefit to generations after their construction, though not in the manner intended originally. Many thanks for this insight commentary. We see a lot by looking!
Metamora Indiana still operates as a "Canal Town". It has the only existing wooden aqueduct in operation in the United States. You can take a ride on a horse drawn canal boat. The town has events throughout the year. It is a nice place to visit.
I'm from Marengo Indiana
We have a cave I've been to Metamora it cool
The Smelly Gourmet is a great place to eat in Metamora. Their Spam Panini is a knockout!!
There is a canal crossing over another canal in the cuyahoga valley park near Sagamore Heights, Ohio. The crossover is wooden. So, metamora is not the only one.
Used to be.
The lock, canal boat and mill water wheel have not been maintained.
Can't inspect the canal boat for certification due to neglect of the lock.
Boat looked broken too, floor humped in center.
Is state owned, don't know why maintenance stopped nearly a decade ago now.
Private organizations have installed trails to the Laurel feeder dam and extended down old tow path towards Brookville.
I live in Fort Wayne. I think (or at least imagine) that I can still see some of the remnants of the Erie-Wabash Canal once I get out west of the city along US 24 toward Roanoke. They’re just grown-over ditches, but wide enough and probably deep enough to have once been the canal route.
Delphi has a great preserved canal in their Canal Park, in Carroll County! It's amazing!
@@terryray8370 Yes it does! Everything was closed when we passed through Delphi. I’d like to go back this summer.
There is lots of canal history in/around Fort Wayne.
Much of old US 24 east of Defiance was built on the Miami and Erie canal, there are may lock remnants and several sections of the canal along the north bank of the river are in water. And two dams on the Maumee that provided the pool water for the canals. Today both dams are part of state parks. Independence Dam State Park is just a few miles out of Defiance, and you cross the canal next to the lock to get to the park. At Providence Metropark, One lock and water powered mill are in working condition, you can take a ride on a traditional mule drawn canal boat thru the lock.
In Defiance the two canals met, the Miami and Erie canal crossed the river on a wooden aquaduct.
South of Defiance you can follow the canal all the way down to Piqua along Ohio Rt 66
Grand Lake St. Mary's was the built as the primary water supply for the canal, as it was along the high point of the canal.
Another fantastic video. But I want to extend my own personal gratitude to you for the Cameo appearance that you did for my dad's birthday on 4/25. You genuinely exceeded my expectations, and I cannot wait to send that video to him. Today, indeed, is a day to be remembered.
Hello from Detroit Michigan brother thank you for sharing your adventure through time
Really cool, History Guy. Here in Fort Wayne there are still remnants of the canal in some areas. Up toward Toledo along US 24 there are some remnants containing water and examples of the canal boats. Here the railroad soon replaced the canal using the same right of way.
Thank you for the lesson.
A wonderfully preserved section of the Whitewater Canal is in Metamora , IN. You'll find many postings from there on UA-cam and other online sites. Well worth a visit if you are in the area.
Illinois & Michigan Canal, linking Great Lakes to the Mississippi.
I live in a town that was 'created' to house men working on the I&M near the Illinois river. Still used for shipping transport, but very infrequently these days.
..and the Asian carp love it.
@@berrytharp1334
Professional fishermen descend on my town from early spring to late fall, weather permitting, and catch 1000s of pounds of them every day. Most is taken to processing plants to be made into fertilizer.
I asked one of them, which was winning- the fish or the fishermen?
He responded, "The fishermen, as the fish haven't taken over the lake- yet." But I fear that day may come if another, more aggressive tactic isn't found to wipe them out.
That brought back a memory ! Once in a quiz the question was posed , which city is the largest city in the world that cannot be reached by a navigable waterway ? The answer so we were told was Indianapolis ! I don't know if its still true or if it ever was for that matter 😂
As far as I know it's true. I was actually going to post this late fact which I read in an intro to one of his books by the great author and Indianapolis native Kurt Vonnegut.
Shucks! I was going to hitch a boat ride on over there!!! 🤣
Atlanta, Salt Lake, Las Vegas . . . navigable waterways WERE the thorofares of connection pre-1850.
But soon thereafter, rail lines & intersections defined paths of settlement.
Since 1940's, roads can go anywhere but they usually connect previously settled locales.
A fantastic effort.
Thank you for another fabulous Video,
Warm Regards, A
There was also the Whitewater canal, severely damaged by floods shortly after it was built, it was never repaired, but a part of it is now a tourist attraction in Metamora.
Great video about my home state. Haven’t visited the canal area yet. There’s a USS Indianapolis memorial on the canal too. Did you visit the Indiana War memorial museum, it’s really nice.
Wish that My Pop was still alive. We are from Indy and he would have loved this episode. The channel actually.
It is amazing today to see the canals that have been abandoned and filled in. It was hard, miserable work that cost many lives in and of itself, never mind when mobs murdered people like at Duffy's cut in Malvern Pennsylvania where almost three score Irish immigrants met gruesome ends like a scene out of Gangs of New York.
I hope it piques someone's interest, the information is out there, easily found on the internet. It's fascinating, and most certainly history that deserves to be remembered!
Thank you. I have always been fascinated with these old canals. I love looking at pictures of the Erie, Morris etc.
The Erie Canal in New York was built at the right time and in the right way. The first leg of the canal bypassed the rapids on the Mohawk river and was very popular, allowing wheat grown in the Mohawk valley to be transported to New York City. As the canal was pushed further west the same thing kept happening; more and more commerce flowed east and west with the tolls paying for the next phase of construction. The canal was later widened and some locks eliminated but the coming of the New York Central railroad soon made the canal redundant. The reconstruction in 1912 into the Barge Canal system allowed bulk transporting of oil and later gasoline but pipelines soon put an end to this also. Today the canal is clean and great for boating and fishing.
If any of you get a chance, visit the portion of the canal in Indy, there are a number of museums right on the canal. The memorial for the USS Indianapolis is located there as well. And the Indiana Historical Society Building, the NCAA headquarters and I believe the hall of fame. And my favorite, the Indiana State Museum.
What a wonderful presentation! I grew up and still live in Logansport, IN. Our house, on East Linden Avenue, was built on the bed of the Wabash and Erie Canal, where it crossed the Eel River. Two massive canal support structures still exist on the south side of the river, and three small island, left overs from the supports that the canal rested on still can be seen. My neighbors across the street used to thrill us with stories of when their father built the house on the corner of 5th and East Linden, almost directly across the street from my childhood home. At one point, on that corner, stood a canal master shack, where workers tended to the canal and such. Her father moved that shack behind their house when he built their home, and my neighbor used to take me into it, pointing out period piece tools and other items, including early newspapers that covered the walls. Unfortunately, when they passed away, the person who bought the house destroyed the shack and its history. The canal came into Logansport via the area later named Erie Avenue. Many period buildings remain on that street. After it crossed the Eel River, it turned west and traveled along the now aptly named road, Water Street, and traveled on to the Ohio River. The towpath road used to guide the canal boats still exists near Georgetown. Logansport hasn't celebrated the Canal's legacy as much as other cities, as it had a big railroad industry, but if you ever get the chance, there's a beautiful park in Delphi, IN that contains a refurbished part of the canal, including a period era canal boat, built by volunteers and measures to scale, a wonderful museum, and several homes and log cabins that were rescued and relocated to Canal Park. And that governor, James Brown Ray, who lacked confidence in the canal systems? He was also pretty much a nut case, who used to stand on the street corners in Indianapolis and write with his cane in the sky, among other goofy things. He was also one of my ancestors. Thank you for recognizing this great part of history!
Fantastic content as always. I live in Broadripple and it’s fascinating to learn about the canal that still exists and is a popular walking and jogging path!
Thank you for keeping Indiana history alive!
Lived here all my life & not once heard this mentioned. Thanks for the history.
We grew up in Broad Ripple and knew a lot about the canal, but your video taught us a lot more! Thanks
This one made me laugh as I recalled reading a history of rail transportation many years ago, specifically a banker's assessment when it was a new technology. "It is indeed interesting but it will never be able to compete with a canal!" 😂 🤣
I lived for a short time in Dearborn County next to Lawrenceburg in Aurora. The Whitewater Canal was finished, but within a year a flood hit and washed out many parts of the canal. The part in Ohio between Lawrenceburg, Indiana and nearby Harrison, Ohio was never rebuilt although the canal did reopen north of Harrison for a short time. You can still see remnants of the canal in Brookville and Metamora today.
Hey Joshua!! I lived near you. My property included part of the Whitewater Canal. You'll know where I am speaking of. Do you remember the two big red brick houses one on either side of the state line? The Indiana house had a drive-thru pony keg. The OH side side house had the big stone building in the back. Both were on US 50. I owned the OH side Red Brick for ten years. Neat!
That's 10 minutes from my house!
Yes, there's also a section open for tourism west of Toledo Ohio. Fascinating history.
@@motherhenn8850 Are you up in Bright or west. If you are east then maybe we were neighbors. Before there I lived on Mt. Nebo, about 10 min away. Cool beans!
Metamora is still a fascinating place to visit
I grew up next to the remnants of the Wabash and Erie Canal. When some highway construction was being done on I-469 near the intersection with US24, some of the timbers from a lock were unburied. It was fun to hear about some more details of what I grew up around.
The swim portion of my first Olympic distance used the Central Canal in downtown. It was like a 1500 meter long pool. Spectators could walk along and watch the entire length.
From a longtime Indianapolis resident, thank you for the informative story. I had heard a lot of this before but it was very good.
Incredible amount of hand shoveling
Great information. Thank you for sharing. Have a great day and stay safe.
Not mentioned (at least not halfway through) were some of the major REASONS that canal building became viable around that time: Steam power, improvements in earth-moving equipment, cheap labor (mostly immigrants), and of course, the advent of rail lines in the 1830s that made river trade all the more profitable. Also the things that went WRONG along the way: Seasonal disease, which routinely devastated laborers, possibly in the 10,000+'s in the case of Irishmen digging the New Basin Canal for New Orleans; sedimentation (giving some of these once-navigable waterways a much shorter lifespan than originally planned); and ultimately, the advent of internal combustion vehicles in the 1880s-1920s.
Never mind that cutting through natural berms and embankments for the sake of new canals also subjected low-lying areas like New Orleans to potential flooding (read: Hurricane Katrina's famous inundation due to failed levees AFTER the storm had passed) which otherwise would not have been nearly as far-reaching nor as impactful.
I frequently explore the Miami and Erie Canal in wester Ohio, which connected the Maumee Rive at Defiance, Ohio, with the Ohio River near Cincinnati. I am amazed at the amount of life that was loss during the construction of the canal - mostly to disease - for the amount of time in which the canal was economical viable, victim to the success of railroads.
Right. Irish immigrants were hit very hard.
Canals are so interesting. I grew up in Milan, Ohio and it was a city founded on the boom caused by the Milan Canal. There were little canals scattered all throughout Ohio until the railroads deemed them obsolete.
same thing with the Hennipin canal in Milan IL.
Forest "between Broad Ripple and Indianapolis." That sounds so strange today as Broad Ripple is completely engulfed by the city of Indianapolis.
If you're a thinking man at all it stands to reason
That the Clydesdale and the cart have had their day
Though they've served the country well for many's the season
Oh the narrow boats did take their trade away.
But to float a barge's keel you need the muscle sweat and steel
Of a thousand navvies working on the line:
With our picks all on our shoulders and our shovels by our side
We're the boys that broke the ground to join the Forth and Clyde!
We had Geordies at the sides of Donegal men
We had bothy lads from Breekin and Montrose
We had highlanders from Bleevin and Bredalbean
Who'd start the morn with whiskey in their brews
But from Dublin or Dundee, every mother's son agreed
That the work would make you old before your time:
With our picks all on our shoulders and our shovels by our side
We're the boys that broke the ground to join the Forth and Clyde!
Oh we dug the cut from Grangemouth up to Boland
From the German Sea to the Carren Foundry door
Oh the faster they could bring the ore and coal in
And the better they could make their cannon roar
But to watch the waters run when the digging was all done
Was a sight I'd walk a thousand miles to see:
With our picks all on our shoulders and our shovels by our side
We're the boys that broke the ground to join the Forth and Clyde
So come all you thinking men whate'er your station
If you marvel at the works of engineers
Drink a health unto the navvies of the nation
And the way they've changed your fortune o'er the years
Jamaica rum and Baltic herring
The bonnie shawl your lady's wearing
All came travelling down our broad canal…
With our picks all on our shoulders and our shovels by our side
We're the boys that broke the ground to join the Forth and Clyde!
(Tidewater Virginia folk and traditional group Dram Treeo off their 1987 album waterside)
Interesting to hear this bit of history of IN. I married a Ft. Wayne man and being from Philadelphia area I used to tease him by telling him I never even heard of Ft. Wayne until I watched the original Planet of the Apes. It was the hometown of George Taylor (aka Charlton Heston).
You mentioned Lafayette in this, and not only is it my hometown, but I live there still. The Canal is something that's noted proudly in our history, but on the heels of that is noted the financial calamity that came from it for the state. The state Constitution now has an amendment that requires a balanced budget.
There is a part of Lafayette just downriver of Wabash Avenue that is called The Towpath, and it is accessible only by a small lane between the railroad tracks and the fence line of the wastewater treatment plant. My father, mother, and stepfather all delivered mail down that lane at one time or another during the '60s-'80s. It was a wild place, and my mom worried she would be accosted by some of the less-than-savory characters who lived there, but my father assured her she was safe since she delivered their welfare checks *eye roll*. The part of the canal that passed through the downtown area is covered up, but it can still be seen on some of the maps that show the old town, especially a detailed illustration that has circulated dated 1867. There is a part of the old canal that still exists: it's called the Widewater, and it's where the old keelboats were said to be able to turn around, it was so wide. A bridge for North 9th Street Rd passes over it, and there is a recycling center (read "junkyard") next to it.
OK, Im a canal junkie, cant wait til a map of all old canals is available. The Princeton NJ library has a great canal history section. Skullkyll Forever!
Morning folks! Keep up the great work T.H.G. family!
Man. Totally forgotten history. Never heard of these canals
Thank you. I was born and raised in Central Indiana and knew little of the history of the canals.
Thank you for the lesson from my home town. Nice to learn about history right beneath your nose!
An important point is that the gondolas and restaurants are only open in the summer. If you go during a gorgeous October weekend, it is abandoned to all but the joggers.
That was interesting. We had the Morris canal here in New Jersey that linked the Delaware River to the Hudson River in Jersey City across from New York City. People forget that the canals used water power for the locks to move the boats up and down the different levels where the horses and mules then took over. Thanks for the video.
The Morris Canal also used a series of inclined planes that moved the boats on rails between elevation changes that were impractical to do with locks. The Morris Canal covered three times the change in elevation of the Erie Canal and did it in one third of the distance. Quite a feat of engineering.
The Wabash Erie through terrible haute has been filled and turned into a road, but there are several sections of the canal in the country that still hold water. There's also a few old locks remaining as well.
I used to take my girlfriend out there and we'd smoke a joint before seeing a Imax show at the museum. I was under the assumption that the canal wasn't that old and was just for looks... kinda mind blowing to learn it has such a profound history dating back to early 1800s.
i spent many days here as a teen. loved the city and Indiana in general. the state at least to me feels like a great place to live . when i was in young marines we went to the Medal of honor park there.
I know this is a comment on an old video…but hell…thanks for mentioning Indiana…I had lived there my whole live until me and my girlfriend moved to New Hampshire last month…before, my home was a mile away from a section of the Erie Canal…and in a corn field nearby was the grave of someone (I no longer remember the name) who had died in its creation…so thank you 🙂
Thanks for improving my knowledge. The old maps improved my Indiana history comprehension and it’s good to know more of some area landmarks reported by the last generation to be a part of the canal.
Great post THG. Haven't seen you on my screen in awhile. Glad this one came along.
A section of the Whitewater Canal around Metamora is being excevated and they have a canal boat there that they sail up and down a short section of. Its very quaint
There are remnants of a canal in Clinton Township, MI. It was supposed to connect the Clinton River With the Kalamazoo River on the other side of the state. It would have created a waterway from Chicago to Detroit. It also ran out of funding long before completion.
Apparently history that never quite happened is all around me! I used to live in Indianapolis, where there was the failed Indiana Central canal. Now I work in Clinton Township, Michigan....
Thank you aways a great presentation.
I kind of expected to see a basketball floating in the canal.
I’m so glad you covered the canals of Indiana! I live about a mile from the remnants of the Whitewater Canal and only about ten miles from a restored section in Metamora! You should definitely check it out sometime when you are out this way!!
My great grandparents settled next to the Miami Erie canal on the west side of dow town. My mentally ill great aunt actually drowned herself in that canal. Now it is all paved over and is called Central Parkway. The Germans settled north of that canal. That area is now called Over the Rhine neighborhood in Cincinnati .
Great work Sir thank you
The central canal in broadripple is also the favorite swimming hole for a certain football player!
Great one. Thanks. The Illinois Michigan canal completed in 1848 connected Chicago to the Illinois River and thereby the Mississippi. Was a success and jump started thev regions prosperity. Now it's a 55ish mile corridor with great bike paths and historic lock towns.
And still miles of abandoned and overgrown sections to explore.
Pre rail you could potentially be in central Illinois and get your product via water, shipped or received all the way from/ to New York city.
Very interesting video as usual. A few years ago my daughter and son-in-law rode their bikes along the Erie canal bike path from Albany to Buffalo NY where he proposed to her on the shore of Lake Erie.
Typically interesting topic crisply presented. Thanks much!
Thank you, this was great. I live in Western Mass and never knew about the South Hadley Canal, making plans to go visit soon.
Interesting to see the marker for the Chenango Canal as I live near there.😀 Keep up the good work
I have traveled and hiked along the Wabash & Erie Canal, the Central Canal and the Whitewater Canal. This video is good in that it highlights the boom as well as its eventual bust. But there was a lot more behind the scenes that drove Indiana to extend its canals. In simple terms the financing was coming via London and New York and those financiers wanted the goods the canal brought to pass through the established ports of New York and on to London. This would establish more toll revenue for the existing canals they had financed. The problem for Indiana was that commerce south of Indianapolis and Terre Haute (the onetime endpoint of the W&E) didn't go by way of a canal, it went by way of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers to the port of New Orleans. Not only was it easier to send commerce that way, but it was immensely cheaper! Before the State of Indiana approved the extension of the W &E by absorbing the Cross Cut Canal, they had applied to the Federal Government to establish a Port of Entry at Terre Haute which included a dam and lock at Grand Rapids (now Mt. Carmel Illinois). Since the USG revenue was primarily based on duties and taxes on trade, this made sense to manage the trade coming and going via New Orleans. President Andrew Jackson vetoed the spend because Terre Haute wasn't near any seaports, so he didn't think it would collect enough taxes to pay for it. It is unknown if he was "lobbied" by canal interests to keep that traffic on New York based canals. So Indiana gave up and licensed the rights on the Wabash to a private company called the Wabash Navigation Company and struck up the process to finish the canal to Evansville. The locks at Riley, Indiana which raised boats up the 35 feet out of Honey Creek was the most expensive lock ever built in Indiana. (and still stands today, they are trying to make it a park) The rest were made of wood to save money. Also the demise of the canal were based on the fact that the flatboat makers in New Baltimore, Indiana had come up with a steam powered flatboat that could reach Petersburg on the White River year round and reach Indianapolis in the spring during the snow melt season and spring rains. So even before the railroads came along the Cross Cut and southern half of the Wabash & Erie were becoming superfluous. The Cross Cut was doomed because the standing water in the Splunge Creek reservoir was thought to be causing typhoid. The Clay City "Regulators" kept bombing the feeder canal dam on the Eel River with TNT to force the lake to drain. This caused boats to get stranded between Riley and Worthington Indiana. Stories of packet boats coming up from Evansville getting stranded at Worthington were common. The turning pond off the White River was found to be full many times. They had to wait until a canal caretaker came down on his horse from Terre Haute thinking someone left a lock door open when instead he found the reservoir completely empty! It usually took a month for him to issue a new contract to get the feeder dam fixed and get the reservoir filled enough to re-water the canal! Fast forward to today.....The recent construction of I-69 in Martin County destroyed what small part of the Central Canal that was dug north of Martinsville. Several historians went out and documented it before the contractors regraded it and destroyed it. There are several online websites that review the destruction of the final stone lock on the Central Canal at Washington Street after the Civil War. Since the lock wasn't being maintained it leaked most of the water out and left the canal dry in the downtown and this made it very smelly, especially in the summertime when it would be full of dead rotting fish and all of the trash the citizens were throwing into it. When the water company took over they capped it off and the remainder of the dug out portion and its towpath south of town was sold to a narrow gauge railroad, which is now the Indiana Railroad. The water the dug out portion collected then is now part of the storm water collection system and diverts the water into the White River at Raymond Street. It has been published that the Central Canal was dug but not watered down to Waverly/Port Royal, but I have yet to find any remnants of that digging activity and is no doubt lost to the effects of nature and the periodic flooding of the White River. The closest I have found is a ditch that runs from Troy Ave to the IPL Harding power station, but I can't confirm it. The Wabash did finally get their locks built in 1890 at Grand Rapids by the US Corps of Engineers, but steamer traffic coming up the Wabash by that time was declining. The navigation rights were turned over to the TVA after WW2 and they formally removed the dam at Mt Carmel. The TVA finally renounced their rights in the late 1950's. This is why all the railroad bridges south of Terre Haute had a swing span or had to be extra high. All because a canal was preferred in the 1840's.
Great as always. I watch your videos as soon as they come out. But I took a break to go look at colleges with my daughter. Of course, I waited until today to watch this one. And we were in Indianapolis!! Didn’t have much time so we just went to dinner. But would have gone to the canal had I but watched this video when it came out. 🤷🏻♂️
History Guy and tour guide.
History Guy you are the BEST!
I haven't read all the posts... but Delphi, IN has a functional section of the canal, complete with buildlings that reflect the era in which it was built. PLUS, there's a very intriguing instructional talk while you ride up and down the canal section there.
From just north of Indy I appreciate this
Awesome episode! I finally got background on that fancy waterway in Indianapolis!
One very important attraction on the canal in Indianapolis is the Medal of Honor memorial....very beautiful, especially at night!!!
Hope HG does Whitewater Canal too.
The Whitewater Canal was used for hydraulic power until the 1950's in Connersville.
The first Industrial park was built next to it for the available hydraulic power.
The canal ruins are much larger and more technically advanced in that section; the blowed up dam has a fish ladder.
Electricity was generated early and until the end.
Laurel dam downstream is functioning and feeds a section of canal that's state owned and supposed to function, but is not maintained.
The Richmond to Brookville Canal sections along east fork of WW river was never completed and caused flooding on the completed west fork river / canal sections; from lack of river control on the east fork of WW river.
A 15 mile long reservoir controls the east fork today.
The flooding hampered canal transport in broken remote sections, but not the hydraulic power usage in the towns.
Here is a wonderful song about Connersville: ua-cam.com/video/BwkOmvdqByo/v-deo.html
They show this canal all the time on TV broadcasts of the Pacers games, but I never knew what it was until now. Thank you!
I live and raised here just east of Terre Haute In.I found this interesting and learned something new about my area is kinda cool.
Interesting thing to watch at 5am.
Last October I did a running race in downtown Indianapolis right by the canal, it was really nice.
I used to live in New Castle, IN. Not much to do there but I look back with fond memories of friends and relatives past.
Nice that people can still use canals, rail, roads, as someday that won't be possible.
The Indianapolis Water Company made use of the Central Canal and still does for water. Up until the 1960's they also sold water for hydraulic power for some industries. So it wasn't a complete failure. The southern most section with the canal walk is no longer connected to the rest of the canal. It was cut off from the northern part when the interstate highway was built in the 1970's and is now filled by run off from the parking structure at the State Government Center.
Several sections of the Whitewater Canal were in use into the late 1930's for hydraulic power and Connersville used the canal water to generate electricity.
It's still connected... It goes underground from 21st to 11th st.
@@KWatson1984 I had not heard that.
It appears, from videos on the internet, that the canals of Great Britain have become quite popular with private citizens, who have those long, very narrow, canal boats. Those boats (or barges) look like a great way to see their country at a much slower pace than all of us are used to. One can only wonder if canal boat tourism could become popular in this country.
They spent a lot of British lottery money resuscitating their canal network. The US doesn't have anywhere near as many restored canals.
what is not well known is London actually has a long canal system , more than Amsterdam I think , you can get a canal boat from London all the way to the North of England, sadly the Scottish and Welsh systems are not connected to it. They are still in the process of reopening old canal's that fell into disuse, with a number of projects going on at the moment. Your right a lot of people do live on them, and seeing as your talking around say 20k, you have people living in places like Camden, behind the Regents canal and right next to the 2012 Olympic park.
You can live anywhere on the system for around 2 weeks then need to move on, or you can get permanent moorings at around 10k a year (in London, cheaper outside) with supplied electricity, water etc. There is around 4700 miles of navigable canals in the UK, which as a Canal boat goes at around 4 MPH , means you will have plenty of chance to stop at many a nice old pub by the system. They can be rented and you don't need any license, experience to do so.
Probably. There are numerous privately owned canal hire boat companies in England. The Kennet and Avon canal is very popular with "stay-cationing" it is a wide canal (closer to the one shown in this video), and it goes past the very pretty town of Bath. One can either hire a traditional narrowboat (6' 10" wide) or the twice as wide "widebeam" -- which are becoming more and more popular on the wider canals of southern England. Wikipedia has articles on both narrowboats and widebeams which explain the differences. I suspect that Americans would probably prefer the extra space widebeams provide as narrowboats feel like living in a railway carriage. The closest I have seen to the town centre shown in this video is Birmingham m.ua-cam.com/video/B224Pj_byQk/v-deo.html. In London it would be Little Venice and Paddington Basin (which are right next to each other) m.ua-cam.com/video/zoQiFRj7gVY/v-deo.html.
@@davidrenton The Llangollen canal and by extension the the Montgomery canal is connected to the English network via the Shropshire Union canal. It is only the Monmouthshire & Brecon canal that is isolated.