Description: This mill was on the Venice mill-race of Erie County, Ohio. A mill-race is an artificial channel that was created to power mills. Many different types of mills were set up along the Venice mill-race. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B05F01A_023_1
Subjects: Water mills; Venice (Ohio); Erie County (Ohio)--History; Water-supply--Ohio--Erie County--Maps
Places: Venice (Ohio); Erie County (Ohio)
 

Description: This mill was on the Venice mill-race of Erie County, Ohio. A mill-race is an artificial channel that was created to power mills. Many different types of mills were set up along the Venice mill-race. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B05F01A_008_1
Subjects: Venice (Ohio); Groundwater--Ohio--Erie County--Maps; Erie County (Ohio)--History
Places: Venice (Ohio); Erie County (Ohio)
 

Description: Drawing of Inscription Rock, located on the south shore of Kelleys Island in Erie County, Ohio. The rock is marked with prehistoric American Indian pictographs. The flat-topped limestone slab displays carvings of animals and human figures. Discovered partly buried in the shoreline in 1833, the 32 foot by 21 foot rock is now entirely exposed. Much eroded by the elements, it is now protected by a roof and viewing platform. Archaeologists believe the inscriptions date from sometime between AD 1200 and the present. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL02962
Subjects: Erie County (Ohio); Ohio History--Natural and Native Ohio; Kelleys Island (Ohio)--History
Places: Kelleys Island (Ohio); Erie County (Ohio)
 

Description: This photograph shows a section of the Miami and Erie Canal in Auglaize County, Ohio, that still remained in 1964. The Miami and Erie Canal was one of Ohio's most important canals during the mid-nineteenth century. During the late 1810s, Governor Thomas Worthington and Governor Ethan Allen Brown both supported the development of canals. They 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. In 1822 the Ohio legislature created a new Ohio Canal Commission, which eventually recommended two routes: a western route along the Miami and Maumee Valleys (Miami and Erie Canal) and a route that started at Lake Erie, passing through the Cuyahoga Valley, the Muskingum Valley, the Licking Valley, and then to the Ohio River along the Scioto Valley (Ohio and Erie Canal). In 1825 the Ohio legislature approved both routes, and on July 21, 1825, work began at Middletown on the Miami and Erie Canal. To finance the canals, the Ohio government relied on loans. Ohio received an initial loan of $400,000 from bankers and businessmen living along the East Coast. The canal commissioners estimated that the Miami and Erie Canal would cost $ 2.9 million, but it actually cost roughly $12,000 per mile to finish. Although the construction of both canals nearly bankrupted the state government, the canals allowed Ohioans to prosper, beginning in the 1830s all the way to the Civil War. Once completed, however, the canals still faced numerous difficulties. The effects of flooding and freezing could and often did seriously damage the canals. Usually canals in the northern half of the state were drained dry from November to April. These difficulties paled in comparison to the advantages of having the canals. The cost to ship goods from the East Coast to Ohio and vice versa declined steeply, from $125 per ton of goods to $25 per ton of goods. Travelers who were willing to trade time for economy could save considerable money by taking a canal boat. Most canals remained in operation in Ohio until the late 1800s. By the 1850s 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: AL06107
Subjects: Canals--Ohio--History--19th century; Miami and Erie Canal (Ohio)--History; Auglaize County (Ohio); Ohio Economy--Transportation and Development
Places: Auglaize County (Ohio)
 

Description: Dated ca. 1935-1940, this photograph shows a lock on the Miami and Erie Canal in Dayton, Ohio, before a storm. Work began on the Miami and Erie Canal in 1825 and was completed in 1845. During the peak of construction, more than four thousand laborers worked on the canal, generally earning 30 cents per day plus room and board. Many recent immigrants to the United States, especially the Irish, survived thanks to jobs on the canals. Other people, like the residents of the communal society at Zoar, also helped construct canals to assist the survival of their community. Many of Ohio’s communities today, including Akron, began as towns for the canal workers. Most canals remained in operation in Ohio until the late 1800s. There is a short stretch in the Muskingum Valley near Zanesville still in operation today. By the 1850s, however, canals were losing business to the railroads. This photograph is one of the many visual materials collected for use in the Ohio Guide. In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the Works Progress Administration by executive order to create jobs for the large numbers of unemployed laborers, as well as artists, musicians, actors, and writers. The Federal Arts Program, a sector of the Works Progress Administration, included the Federal Writers’ Project, one of the primary goals of which was to complete the America Guide series, a series of guidebooks for each state which included state history, art, architecture, music, literature, and points of interest to the major cities and tours throughout the state. Work on the Ohio Guide began in 1935 with the publication of several pamphlets and brochures. The Reorganization Act of 1939 consolidated the Works Progress Administration and other agencies into the Federal Works Administration, and the Federal Writers’ Project became the Federal Writers’ Project in Ohio. The final product was published in 1940 and went through several editions. The Ohio Guide Collection consists of 4,769 photographs collected for use in Ohio Guide and other publications of the Federal Writers’ Project in Ohio from 1935-1939. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B02F07_022
Subjects: Canals--Ohio; Miami and Erie Canal (Ohio)--History; Montgomery County (Ohio); Geography and Natural Resources; Transportation--Ohio
Places: Montgomery County (Ohio)
 

Description: Postcard with the caption "Night View of the Famous Blue Hole, Castalia, Ohio." The Blue Hole is a large spring fed by an underground river. The depth of the Blue Hole is unknown. It maintains a water temperature of 48 degrees year round. Caption in lower left-hand corner reads "In Ohio's Lake Erie Vacationland." View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL03463
Subjects: Erie County (Ohio); Ohio History--Natural and Native Ohio; Tourism
Places: Castalia (Ohio); Erie County (Ohio)
 

Description: Dated ca. 1935-1940, this photograph shows a lock on the Miami and Erie Canal near Maumee, Ohio. Work began on the Miami and Erie Canal in 1825 and was completed in 1845. During the peak of construction, more than four thousand laborers worked on the canal, generally earning 30 cents per day plus room and board. Many recent immigrants to the United States, especially the Irish, survived thanks to jobs on the canals. Other people, like the residents of the communal society at Zoar, also helped construct canals to assist the survival of their community. Many of Ohio’s communities today, including Akron, began as towns for the canal workers. Most canals remained in operation in Ohio until the late 1800s. There is a short stretch in the Muskingum Valley near Zanesville still in operation today. By the 1850s, however, canals were losing business to the railroads. This photograph is one of the many visual materials collected for use in the Ohio Guide. In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt established the Works Progress Administration by executive order to create jobs for the large numbers of unemployed laborers, as well as artists, musicians, actors, and writers. The Federal Arts Program, a sector of the Works Progress Administration, included the Federal Writers’ Project, one of the primary goals of which was to complete the America Guide series, a series of guidebooks for each state which included state history, art, architecture, music, literature, and points of interest to the major cities and tours throughout the state. Work on the Ohio Guide began in 1935 with the publication of several pamphlets and brochures. The Reorganization Act of 1939 consolidated the Works Progress Administration and other agencies into the Federal Works Administration, and the Federal Writers’ Project became the Federal Writers’ Project in Ohio. The final product was published in 1940 and went through several editions. The Ohio Guide Collection consists of 4,769 photographs collected for use in Ohio Guide and other publications of the Federal Writers’ Project in Ohio from 1935-1939. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B02F07_017_1
Subjects: Canals--Ohio; Miami and Erie Canal (Ohio)--History; Montgomery County (Ohio); Geography and Natural Resources; Transportation--Ohio
Places: Maumee (Ohio); Lucas County (Ohio)
 

Description: Postcard with the caption "The Famous Blue Hole, Castalia, Ohio." The Blue Hole is a large spring fed by an underground river. The depth of the Blue Hole is unknown. It maintains a water temperature of 48 degrees year round. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL03464
Subjects: Erie County (Ohio); Ohio History--Natural and Native Ohio; Tourism
Places: Castalia (Ohio); Erie County (Ohio)
 

Description: Postcard depicting the entrance to the Blue Hole in Castalia, Ohio. The Blue Hole is a large spring fed by an underground river. The depth of the Blue Hole is unknown. It maintains a water temperature of 48 degrees year round. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL03465
Subjects: Erie County (Ohio); Ohio History--Natural and Native Ohio; Tourism
Places: Castalia (Ohio); Erie County (Ohio)
 

Description: Postcard depicting the mill pond and fish hatchery at the Blue Hole, Castalia, Ohio. The Blue Hole is a large spring fed by an underground river. The depth of the Blue Hole is unknown. It maintains a water temperature of 48 degrees year round. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL03466
Subjects: Erie County (Ohio); Ohio History--Natural and Native Ohio; Tourism
Places: Castalia (Ohio); Erie County (Ohio)
 

Description: This photograph shows Rupp’s Canal Store on the Miami and Erie Canal in Waterville, Ohio, in the 1880s. The building is a three-story structure situated on a boardwalk running along the canal. A canal boat is moored in front of the store, tied to a hitching post on the boardwalk. A man and a young child (facing the camera) are standing near the store. Rupp’s Canal Store was opened in 1854 by Orrin Gillett and William Dyer. Over the years it has several owners until purchased by Jacob Rupp, who renamed it Rupp’s Canal Store. It was one of the busiest places of commerce in Waterville during the canal era. The completion of the Miami and Erie Canal through Waterville in 1843 began a short-lived prosperous era for the village. Businesses mushroomed along its banks, and Westerville’s business center shifted from Main Street (now River Road) to Third Street, where it remains today. Most canals remained in operation in Ohio until the late 1800s. By the 1850s 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. The Miami and Erie Canal, connecting Toledo to Cincinnati, joined the Wabash and Erie Canal to Indiana. The Waterville section of the canal was completed in 1843. Boats pulled by mules or horses walking on the canal banks hauled farm products, commercial goods, and people. In 1851 there were approximately 400 boats operating on the canal. Hotels, stores, and mills sprung up along its banks. Canal operations ceased in 1909 as railroads and automobiles became faster and cheaper means of travel. During the 1930s and 1940s the canal bed was filled in to become the Anthony Wayne Trail, U. S. Route 24 View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL06113
Subjects: Canals--Ohio--History--19th century; Miami and Erie Canal (Ohio)--History; Lucas County (Ohio); Waterville (Ohio); Ohio Economy--Transportation and Development
Places: Waterville (Ohio); Lucas County (Ohio)
 

Description: This photo shows the state of the Miami and Erie canal in the 1930s. The remnants of this lock indicate it is certainly no longer used at this point in time. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B02F05_015
Subjects: Montgomery County (Ohio)--History; Locks (Canal); Canals--Ohio; Miami and Erie Canal (Ohio)--History; Geography and Natural Resources; Transportation--Ohio--History.; Ohio--History--Pictorial works; Federal Writers' Project
Places: Montgomery County (Ohio)