The Wabash and Erie Canal was a shipping canal that linked the Great Lakes to the Ohio River via an artificial waterway. The canal provided traders with access from the Great Lakes all the way to the
by 1872, the Toledo, Wabash and Western Railway (shown in red) connected Toledo, Fort Wayne, and Lafayette. The original canal, with its slow pace and maintenance issues, struggled to compete with many rail lines in operation in the 1870s.