The Miami and Erie Canal was a 274-mile (441 km) canal that ran from Cincinnati to Toledo, Ohio, creating a water route between the Ohio River and Lake Erie. Construction on the canal began in 1825 and was completed in 1845 at a cost to the state government of $8 million. At its peak, it included 19 aqueducts, three guard locks, 103 canal locks, multiple feeder canals, and a few man-made water reservoirs. The canal climbed 395 feet (120 m) above Lake Erie and 513 feet (156 m) above the Ohio River to reach a topographical peak called the Loramie Summit, which extended 19 miles (31 km) between New Bremen, Ohio to lock 1-S in Lockington, north of Piqua, Ohio. Boats up to 80 feet long were towed along the canal by mules, horses, or oxen walking on a prepared towpath along the bank, at a rate of four to five miles per hour.
Ohio Rhineland German Church
Miami and Erie Canal, at Rupps Store, Waterville, Ohio, 1888
The canal figures prominently in this 1841 lithograph view of Cincinnati
Interior of one of the Lockington Locks. Braces have been installed to prevent the lock from caving in
Cincinnati is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Ohio, United States. Settled in 1788, the city is located in the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line with Kentucky. The population of Cincinnati was 309,317 in 2020, making it the third-most populous city in Ohio after Columbus and Cleveland, and 65th in the United States. The city is the economic and cultural hub of the Cincinnati metropolitan area, Ohio's most populous metro area and the nation's 30th-largest with over 2.265 million residents.
Image: Downtown Cincinnati viewed from Mt. Adams (cropped)
Image: Roebling Suspension Bridge at night
Image: Cincinnati Union Terminal principal facade
Image: Over the Rhine near Findlay Market