Description: Dated ca. 1935-1940, this photograph shows the Miami and Erie Canal in Dayton, 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_B02F06_017
Subjects: Canals Ohio; Miami and Erie Canal (Ohio)--History; Dayton (Ohio)--Buildings, structures, etc.; Geography and Natural Resources; Transportation--Ohio--History.
Places: Dayton (Ohio); Montgomery County (Ohio)
 

Description: This photo shows the state of the Miami and Erie canal in the 1930s. The scene is most likely from just outside Dayton, Ohio. The Miami and Erie Canal connected the Ohio River in Cincinnati and Lake Erie in Toledo and was completed in 1845. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B02F06_041
Subjects: Canals--Ohio--Pictorial works; Canals--Ohio--Dayton; Architecture, Domestic--Ohio--Pictorial works.; Miami and Erie Canal (Ohio); Ohio--History--Pictorial works; Federal Writers' Project
Places: Montgomery County (Ohio)
 

Description: This photograph shows a canal boat on the Ohio and Erie Canal with its crew members standing on its roof and men in smaller boats in front. During the late 1810s, Governor Thomas Worthington and Governor Ethan Allen Brown both supported internal improvements, especially canals. Both men believed that Ohioans needed quick and easy access to the Ohio River and to Lake Erie if they were to profit financially. In 1822, the Ohio legislature realized the importance of internal improvements and created a new Ohio Canal Commission. The Canal Commission eventually recommended a route starting at Lake Erie, passing through the Cuyahoga Valley, the Muskingum Valley, the Licking Valley, and then to the Ohio River along the Scioto Valley. The Commission also recommended a western route along the Miami and Maumee Valleys. By 1833, the Ohio and Erie Canal was complete, followed twelve years later by the Miami and Erie Canal. Once completed, thirty-three of Ohio's eighty-eight counties either had portions of canals running through them or quarries to mine rock for construction. The canals had many advantages to Ohioans. Most importantly, the cost to ship goods from the East Coast to Ohio and vice versa declined tremendously from 125 dollars per ton of goods to twenty-five dollars per ton of goods. Most canals remained in operation in Ohio until the late 1800s, their demise due in part to competition from the much speedier 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_004_1
Subjects: Canals Ohio; Miami and Erie Canal (Ohio)--History; Geography and Natural Resources; Transportation--Ohio--History.; Ohio--History--Pictorial works; Federal Writers' Project
Places: Piketon (Ohio); Pike County (Ohio)
 

Description: The original description reads: "This is the Taylor Street Canal Bridge taken March 22, 1911." This photo shows the state of the Miami and Erie canal in Dayton in the 1910s. The Miami and Erie Canal connected the Ohio River in Cincinnati and Lake Erie in Toledo and was completed in 1845. Running along the right of the canal is the "electric mule" track, a machine that ran on rails that would supposedly do away with the old method of mules and horses that propelled the canal boats. The electric mule never became widely used, however, as canals were almost completely abandoned shortly after the electric mule was developed in favor of pure rail transportation. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B02F05_006
Subjects: Canals--Ohio; Miami and Erie Canal (Ohio); Dayton (Ohio); Montgomery County (Ohio)
Places: Dayton (Ohio); Montgomery County (Ohio)
 

Description: Probably produced in the 1910s, the original description for this photograph reads "Canal Scene Today." This photograph was included in a large group of photographs of the Miami and Erie Canal taken in Montgomery County, Ohio, but there is no other supporting documentation. Completed in 1845, the Miami and Erie Canal connected the Ohio River in Cincinnati and Lake Erie in Toledo. This photograph is one of many visual materials collected for publication 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_011
Subjects: Canals--Ohio; Miami and Erie Canal (Ohio); Canal-boats; Canals--Ohio--Pictorial works; Works Progress Administration; Ohio Federal Writers' Project
Places: Montgomery County (Ohio)
 

Description: This photo shows the state of the Miami and Erie canal in the 1930s. The Miami and Erie Canal connected the Ohio River in Cincinnati and Lake Erie in Toledo and was completed in 1845. This scene demonstrates how multiple locks were used to transport large vessels up and down elevation changes along the waterway. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B02F07_007
Subjects: Canals--Ohio; Miami and Erie Canal (Ohio)--History; Locks (Canal); Dayton (Ohio)--Buildings, structures, etc.--Pictorial works; Geography and Natural Resources; Transportation--Ohio--History.; Ohio--History--Pictorial works; Federal Writers' Project
Places: Dayton (Ohio); Montgomery County (Ohio)
 

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)
 

Description: This photo shows the state of the Miami and Erie canal in the 1930s. The Miami and Erie Canal connected the Ohio River in Cincinnati and Lake Erie in Toledo and was completed in 1845. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B02F05_016
Subjects: Canals--Ohio--Pictorial works; Canals--Ohio--Dayton; Miami and Erie Canal (Ohio); Ohio--History--Pictorial works; Federal Writers' Project
Places: Dayton (Ohio); Montgomery County (Ohio)
 

Description: This photo shows the state of the Miami and Erie canal in the 1930s. The Miami and Erie Canal connected the Ohio River in Cincinnati and Lake Erie in Toledo and was completed in 1845. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B02F05_011
Subjects: Canals--Ohio--Pictorial works; Canals--Ohio--Dayton; Miami and Erie Canal (Ohio); Ohio--History--Pictorial works; Federal Writers' Project
Places: Dayton (Ohio); Montgomery County (Ohio)
 

Description: This photo shows the state of the Miami and Erie canal in the 1930s. The Miami and Erie Canal connected the Ohio River in Cincinnati and Lake Erie in Toledo and was completed in 1845. The sign on the building to the left of the canal reads: "G.J. Roberts Co. Steampumps, Central Machine Works." View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B02F05_024
Subjects: Canals--Ohio--Pictorial works; Canals--Ohio--Dayton; Miami and Erie Canal (Ohio); Ohio--History--Pictorial works; Federal Writers' Project
Places: Dayton (Ohio); Montgomery County (Ohio)
 

Description: This photo shows the state of the Miami and Erie canal in the 1930s. The Miami and Erie Canal connected the Ohio River in Cincinnati and Lake Erie in Toledo and was completed in 1845. The businesses pictured are from left to right: Buckeye Wagon Works, Gem City Pattern Works, Apple Electric Company, and James Saunders Co. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B02F05_022
Subjects: Canals--Ohio--Pictorial works; Canals--Ohio--Dayton; Miami and Erie Canal (Ohio); Ohio--History--Pictorial works; Federal Writers' Project
Places: Dayton (Ohio); Montgomery County (Ohio)
 

Description: The original description reads: "The picture of this man wading in the canal was taken July, 1904." This photo shows the state of the Miami and Erie canal near Dayton in the early 1900s. The Miami and Erie Canal connected the Ohio River in Cincinnati and Lake Erie in Toledo and was completed in 1845. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B02F06_031
Subjects: Montgomery County (Ohio)--History; 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)