THE Canal Society of Ohio
The Miami & Erie Canal in Cincinnati, similar to Toledo and Cleveland, is difficult to visualize due to superimposed urbanization. The accompanying map shows the original course of the canal. The canal entered Cincinnati on a twelve-mile flat stretch that began at Lockland to the north. "Canal Street" on the map is now the East-West portion of the Central Parkway. As the area to the North of the canal was predominately German, everything North of the canal was known as "Over the Rhine", and still is! The flight of 10 locks carrying the canal to the Ohio River level is now Eggleston Avenue.
The Cincinnati and Whitewater Canal
Cincinnati & Whitewater Canal - canal sites
Cleves Tunnel
Miami & Erie Canal in Cincinnati
Click to enlarge each photo.
Commercial interests were eager to attract and develop trade in the valleys of the Great Miami and Whitewater Rivers - an area incompletely served by the existing Miami Canal running from Dayton to Cincinnati.
In response, the Cincinnati and Whitewater Canal was completed in 1843. The Cleves Tunnel is an outstanding engineering feature of the canal. It was the fifth canal tunnel in the country and the first one in Ohio. The tunnel allowed the canal to cross a high glacial moraine that separates the Great Miami Valley from the Ohio River.
Note in the photos below that the stone arch of the Mill Creek Aqueduct still remains although sandwiched in between concrete structure that was added in the 1918 to 1920 period. Also note the Burr arch beam notches in the stone work of the Great Miami and Dry Fork Creek Aqueduct abutment remnants.
Canal Society of Ohio Inc.
The Miami & Erie Canal in Cincinnati
M & E Canal Marker on Central Parkway Cincinnati, Ohio