Ohio and Erie Canal

It is hard to imagine Cleveland developing into a city if it was not chosen as the northern end of Ohio and Erie Canal. As early as 65438+ 1980' s, George Washington discussed the possibility of building a canal to connect Lake Erie and Ohio River, but it was not until 1825 that the Ohio Parliament voted to provide funds for the project and the project was started. When 1832 was completely completed-the bridge between Akron and Cleveland was opened on14, 827-Ohio and Erie Canal traveled 308 miles on the passage between Cleveland and Portsmouth, Ohio through 146 elevator doors.

The canal turned Cleveland into a major commercial center almost immediately. The city has become a hub of continental transportation network, connecting with new york City through Lake Erie and Canal Erie in new york, and connecting with the developing border areas of the United States and New Orleans through the Ohio River and Mississippi River. Commodities such as wheat, corn, coal and wood go north to Cleveland from the border, while finished products from factories in the northeast return to Cleveland. Road trip at this time-a place with roads-is unreliable and expensive. The canal greatly reduced the cost of transporting goods. It opens a new market for manufactured goods and binds Americans living on the edge of the country to the expanding national economy.

The banks of the Cuhoga River were soon crowded with warehouses, docks and shipyards. Soon, as enterprising Cleveland people began to transform raw materials shipped from the inland through canals into new products in great demand, such as steel and oil, the area became an industrial production center. Many Irish immigrants who built canals stayed in cities to engage in these new industries.

The traffic and income of Ohio and Erie Canal reached its peak in the 1950s of 19. At that time, the railway has become the main mode of transportation. Thanks to this canal, Cleveland has become a big city and continues to prosper. Raw materials and finished products come in and out in large quantities, but they are all transported by boxcars instead of canals.

The canal is gradually abandoned. Steel mills use it in factories, and floods occasionally wash away some of it. At the end of the 20th century, with the establishment of Cuhoga Valley National Park, parts of Ohio and Erie Canal were protected by the National Park Service. Other federal and local projects have protected many parts of the canal. Thanks to these efforts, future generations will be able to see Ohio's original interstate highway system: artificial ditches on the deck of canal boats that brought prosperity to Cleveland.