Buckland Lock at the Wabash and Erie Canal photograph   Save
Canal locks
Description: This photograph shows the Buckland Lock, part of the Wabash and Erie Canal system. Located near Grand Rapids, Ohio, Buckland was a guard lock from the slackwater at Providence Dam into the Miami and Erie Canal. Boats coming from the Gilead Canal across the Maumee River locked back into the Miami and Erie Canal at this point. During the late 1810s, Governor Thomas Worthington and Governor Ethan Allen Brown both supported the development of canals in Ohio. Both men believed that Ohioans needed quick and easy access to the Ohio River and to Lake Erie if they were to profit financially. Farmers and business owners would be able to transport their products much more easily and cheaply with canals rather than turnpikes. Canals would also possibly open up new markets for Ohio goods. The Wabash and Erie Canal opened in 1845 and made Toledo a growing seaport and center of commerce along Lake Erie. In addition to the Wabash and Erie Canal, Toledo was connected to the city of Cincinnati by way of the Miami and Erie Canal. The Wabash and Erie Canal intersected with the Miami and Erie Canal at the town of Junction, Ohio. From Junction the canals proceeded as one to Defiance, Toledo, and Lake Erie. Most canals remained in operation in Ohio until the late 1800s. By the 1850s, however, canals were losing business to the railroads, which offered several advantages. Railroads delivered passengers and goods more quickly, and they were not limited by a water source as canals were. Because of these advantages, railroads quickly supplanted the canals. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL06115
Subjects: Wabash and Erie Canal (Ind. and Ohio); Miami and Erie Canal (Ohio); Canals--Ohio--History--19th century; Grand Rapids (Ohio); Transportation--Ohio--History;
Places: Grand Rapids (Ohio); Wood County (Ohio)