Canal buffs to tour watery slice of county’s history this weekend
By MATTHEW WHITELISBON - More than a hundred people will step back into Columbiana County's history this weekend when they visit a number of sites along the former Sandy and Beaver Canal, which operated in the 1840s and early 1850s and contained 90 locks and 30 dams.
Dan Schuster, a trustee of the Canal Society of Ohio, said the trip was on his list of things to do after having given a tour of the Western Division of the canal, from Hanoverton to Bolivar, several years ago. The current tour will take participants upon the Middle and Eastern Divisions of the canal, mainly from Hanoverton to Lisbon and then over to Glasgow, Pa.
"It's a very interesting canal with a lot of artifacts left," Schuster said. "I think everyone will have a good time, I wouldn't want to run a tour that wasn't fun for all."
The tour is part of a weekend-long event, featuring a slideshow presentation of the canal by Salem photographer Jerry King on Friday evening, a bus tour all day Saturday that will visit sites along the canal with a dinner following at the historic Taste of Country restaurant in Lisbon and a hike to remote canal artifacts on Sunday.
Some of the places participants will vist on Saturday include: The "Little Tunnel," Dungannon, the site of one of the first catholic churches in Ohio, the "Big Tunnel," Guilford Lake, which is named after the canal's first chief engineer, Camp McKinley, Rebecca Furnace, Lusk's Lock, Beaver Creek State Park and Gretchen's Lock.
"This will be one of the biggest canal events in the state in awhile, and maybe the largest turnout ever for a canal event," Schuster said. "Some of the best things we'll see are the locks in the Eastern Divison, including Lusk's Lock in Beaver Creek State Park."
The Sandy and Beaver Canal wasn't fully operational until 1848 and then closed in
1852 when railroads absorbed most of the canal businesses.
Schuster said the Sandy and Beaver Canal suffered a variety of setbacks that kept it from reaching its potential, including a financial panic in 1837 that stopped construction for nearly 10 years, unexpected expenses and difficulty in creating tunnels near Dungannon and a lack of water supply at the canal's highest levels. He also said a breach in the dam at the Cold Run Reservoir caused a lot of damage to area land owners and changed public opinion about the canal.
At its peak, Ohio's canal system ran more than 900 miles and connected to many of the state's biggest cities and helped build their prosperity. By the 1850s; however, railroads replaced the canal system as a common form of transportation.
Schuster said individuals who would like to take a canal trip may be interested in an event held this fall featuring the Ohio-Erie Canal. He said it would be based in Chillicothe and Circleville. For information on the trip, he said people should contact the Canal Society of Ohio, 550 Copley Rd. Akron, OH 44320.
Individuals interested in learning more about the Sandy and Beaver Canal may visit www.sandybeaver.com where they can explore much of the history of the canal and examine photographs by King.
Matthew White may be contacted at mwhite@salemnews.net.
