The Ohio-Erie Canal Discovery Center, Downtown Cleveland, and Dinner in Columbus

After hearing about the Canal Exploration Center yesterday, I wanted to go there today to learn more about the Ohio-Erie canal. The rangers were really good and answered a lot of my questions. They showed me a map that showed all the locks and gave the elevation profile of the canal. The high point is around the city of Akron, which is located in Summit county -- that makes sense.

The Ohio & Erie canal was dug by hand between 1825 and 1832. It was the first canal west of the Appalachian mountains, and really opened up commerce. Goods could be shipped from New York across the Erie Canal, then shipped over Lake Erie to the Ohio & Erie Canal from Lake Erie to Portsmouth on the Ohio river, then carried by steamship down the Ohio and Mississippi rivers to New Orleans.

The canal, and later the railroads, really opened up the interior of the country and helped motivate people to move to the Ohio area. In 1859, the canal was 309 miles in length, had 146 locks.

There were 44 locks inthe 38 miles between Lake Erie and Akron. On average, each lock raised the boat about 9 feet. The diagram below shows the elevation change between Lake Erie and Akron. The steepest elevation gain, and hence the most closely spaced locks, were in the Akron area at the right of the diagram. I didn’t notice the change in a car.

The wooden gates at each side of the locks were opened by hand, using the long wooden handles. Water pressure prevented the gates from being opened unless the water on each side of the gate was at the same level.

Each gate had a small door near the bottom called a wicket. The wicket would be opened to let water flow through the gate from the high side to the low side, until the water on both sides was at the same level. At that point, the gate could be opened by hand and a boat could enter or leave the lock through the open gate.

Since only one boat could pass through the lock at a time, multiple boats could be queued up waiting to pass through the lock. It also took time to equalize the water. As a result, taverns sprang up at lock sites, allowing travelers to eat, rest, buy essentials, and catch up on news while they were waiting.

The canal was a big dirt ditch except for the locks, which were lined with stone. To help keep the water from seeping out of the canal, workers lined it with clay during construction.

The canal around the lock closest to the park's Canal Exploration Center had quite a bit of water, whch made it easier to visualize how everything worked.

In addition to carrying passengers or freight, many of the boats carried additional mules so they could be rotated and get rest between shifts. The speed limit on the canal was 4 mph. It was not a limitation of the mules, but was to prevent the boats from generating a wake that could erode the sides of the canal. At 4 mph, it took about 80 hours of travel to traverse the 309 miles from Lake Erie to the Ohio river. That doesn't include the wait time at each of the 146 locks!

I really enjoyed learning about the canal and the boon that it brought to the Ohio area in the 1800s.

-- Downtown Cleveland --

After learning about the canal, I drove to Cleveland to explore the downtown Cleveland area. I parked by the Cleveland Browns stadium, which is near the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Lake Erie waterfront.

I went in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame gift shop, and also sat outside and listened to some of the rock and roll music playing over the loudspeakers. I wasn't interested enough to pay to go through the museum. Sitting outside at a table and listening to the music, and looking at items in the gift shop, was good enough for me.

After getting my fill of the museum area, I walked down the hill to Lake Erie and watched the cruise boats carrying tourists.

When I walked up the hill to the downtown area, I saw a crowd of people waiting in line for a free concert. I like the idea of the city putting on free concerts, but the line to get in was really long, so I didn't stop.

Cleveland has a public square in the middle of its downtown. The square has a small park. A really neat building on the square is the Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument. 

The Soldiers' and Sailors' Monument is a memorial dedicated to the 9,000 soldiers from Cuyahoga County who fought for the Union in the U.S. Civil War. At the time of the Civil War, Cuyahoga County's total population was only 78,000, so they were well represented. About 1,100 of the 9,000 soldiers died in the war.

The interior of the monument is beautiful. It has four bronze reliefs depicting Linoln in various settings. In this one, he is holding the chains of a freed slave. Levi T. Scofield was the sculptor.

  

The bronze reliefs are in the middle of the buiding, and the names of the 9,000 soldiers and their units are on the surrounding walls. The building is a fitting memorial, and there are a lot of names. The building and layout were designed by veterans.

When President Lincoln's body was transported across the country by train after his death, it was temporarily on display in Cleveland's public square.

After visiting the memorial, I went inside the Tower City Center, which is also on the square. It has some fancy stores, such as this wedding/quinceanera dress shop. A light rail station is in the basement.

-- Dinner in Columbus --

After Cleveland, I drove to the german village section of Columbus, and had dinner at Schmidt's Sausage Haus restaurant. The restaurant is family owned, and has been in operation since 1886!

I ordered the Old World Sausage Sampler with unlimited sausage. I had ordered the same meal when I visited Columbus with my mother a few decades ago, so it was somewhat of a trip down memory lane. At the time, we split a streudel ala mode for dessert, but I didn't have room this time.

After dinner, I walked around the German village's residential neighborhood for a while to work off my dinner, and then drove around The Ohio State University campus.  There were lots of students walking around near the campus. Then I headed to the Walmart on Bethel Road in northwestern Columbus, where I spent the night.