Allen County, Indiana Places

Canal Information

  1. American Canal Society Canal Index for Wabash & Erie Canal.
  2. August 13, 1847 Canal Stock

    August 13, 1847 certificate for Special Canal Stock issued by the State of Indiana for the Wabash and Erie Canal payable in 1853 at 5% per annum interest shared May 15, 2015 on a May 15, 2015 post by the Indiana Bicentennial Commission on Facebook.

    5. Wabash & Erie Canal Certificate in the March 2021 in the The Tumble newsletter by the Canal Society of Indiana.

  3. Memorial to the General assembly of the state of Indiana, of the holders of certificates of stock of the Wabash & Erie canal, issued by the state of Indiana Publication date 1871 on Archive.org 

  4. Annual Report of the Trustees of the Wabash and Erie Canal, to the General Assembly of the State of Indiana: December, 1847 (Classic Reprint) Hardcover – August 24, 2018 on Amazon.com. It is likely there were reports for other years.
  5. Annual Report of the Board of Trustees of the Wabash and Erie Canal By Indiana. Board of Trustees of the Wabash and Erie Canal · 1865 a Google eBook
  6. Two images described as A trip down the canal. Wabash and Erie Canal toll receipt from 1851. Describes a boat named J.Q. Adams hauling 2000 Bushels of corn weighing an incredible 120,000 pounds from Pittsburg Indiana (near Delphi Indiana) to the Ohio state line (120 miles) with a tax charge of $40.32. A wagon was also transported. I am not sure what was transported for 20 cents on the third line. Mentions what appears to be ‘Logan’ which I believe refers to Logansport. Let me know if you are able to decipher any more of the cursive writing. posted January 2, 2023 on True Fort Wayne Indiana History on Facebook.
  7. May 7, 1900 Fort Wayne News newspaper article .
  8. May 17, 1914 in The Journal Gazette newspaper Barge Canal project article .
  9. CANAL HISTORY - 1828-1881* from New Haven Area Heritage Association, Inc.
  10. Canal Mania in Indiana 16 pages with maps, photos, and more from the June 1997 The Indiana Historian magazine at the Indiana Historical Bureau.
  11. Canal Society of Indiana founded in 1982, has biographies and/or genealogies of those who were officially connected to Indiana’s canals, worked on them or had businesses related to them on their website: https://indcanal.org, a Historical Archive with past issues of their publication The Hoosier Packet, and 173 page publication Fort Wayne Newspapers 1830-1879 that mention canals. A January 15, 2022 post by the Canal Society of Indiana on Facebook states: Want to know more about Indiana canals? Go to the CSI Website: indcanal.org There you will find all of issues of "The Tumble" to view. Go to Videos & Statistics or to Historical Archives. In the Archives are back issues of "The Hoosier Packet" from 2016 - 2021 and also tour Guides For a guide about Fort Wayne go to "The Beginnings" - 1977. Patience! Let if load up and then just go below the display box of the guide where it says "Click open for a new Tab." Again Patience! This will give you a full screen that you can magnify for an even better view. Try it out and give me a "Like" if you succeed. There are hundreds of pages of canal information on our website. Several posts with photos for Fort Wayne have been on their Facebook page.
  12. Canals: Towpaths West 1963 video by Indiana University Media Collections Online. Canal history plus dramatization of 1840s life along a canal.
    A document of the day March 21, 2018 was the 1961 letter explaining the purpose of this video by Indiana U. Archives on Twitter.
  13. Fleeting canal era had impact on Indiana - INDIANA AT 200, A COLUMN BY ANDREA NEAL published July 30, 2014 in The News-Sentinel newspaper.
  14. Fort Wayne during the Canal era 1828-1855; a study of a Western community in the middle period of American history by Poinsatte, Charles R, Publication date 1969, borrow online as on Archive.org.
  15. Fort Wayne, IN: Wabash and Erie Canal has maps and photos from various sources on Towns and Nature blog.
  16. How The Landing and Dock Street Got Their Names (It's for the Same Reason) by Shane G. posted on August 10, 2012 on Visit Fort Wayne blog. See The Landing for more information.
  17. Indiana's canal heritage by Harlow, Alvin F. (Alvin Fay), 1875-1963, Publication date 1954, on Archive.org.
  18. Internal Improvements in Indiana: No. III—The Wabash and Erie Canal a Google eBook. Original source: Cottman, G. S. (1907). Internal Improvements in Indiana: No. III—The Wabash and Erie Canal. Indiana Magazine of History. Retrieved from https://scholarworks.iu.edu/journals/index.php/imh/article/view/5608, Volume 3, Issue 3, September 1907 from the Indiana Magazine of History journal in the archives at Indiana University Scholarworks.
  19. Lost Birds of Canal Days - a new sign in 2013 at Eagle Marsh lists Prairie Chicken, Carolina Parrot and Passenger Pigeon as birds canal riders may have seen. See October 28, 2013 photo from Stockbridge Audubon Society shared on Little River Wetlands Facebook page.
  20. Take a Motor Tour on the Wabash Erie Canal Towpath TrailNovember 18, 2008 on We Canal Corridor Tour.
  21. New Haven Canal Days on Facebook.
  22. New Haven Fun Fact: Canal Landing is a 1/3rd acre pocket park on Broadway between Main and Bell. Its historic plaque tells the importance of the canal in New Haven’s development. From Moser Park, the canal traveled northeast along the north side of Main Street and through town to cross Green Street between Bell and Canal. It then followed the route of U.S. 24 East. The canal bed is very apparent on the south side of U.S. 24 driving east. Copied from a September 1, 2022 post by City of New Haven Indiana on Facebook.
  23. Wabash-Erie Canal Through New Haven, Indiana November 28, 2022 Mike Fromholt on YouTube.
    This short video shows the route of the Wabash-Erie Canal through the city of New Haven, Indiana. The canal operated from the 1830's and was abandoned c1878. Maps from: Google Earth, IMaps

  24. Newspaper Clippings on the Wabash and Erie Canal, Vol. 2: April, 1835 January, 1841 (Classic Reprint) Paperback – February 5, 2018 at Amazon.com.
  25. Old Towpaths, The Story of The American Canal Era by Alvin F. Harlow, Publication date, 1926, on Archive.org.
  26. Travelling along Rose Street out to 469 from New Haven, turn to the right and voila, you will see the old traces of the canal. Here is the remnant of the towpath and dip, behind homes in Tanglewood.

    Posted by Remnants Of The Wabash & Erie Canal: Fort Wayne/New Haven, Indiana on Thursday, June 14, 2012

    June 14, 2012 post by Remnants Of The Wabash & Erie Canal: Fort Wayne/New Haven, Indiana on Facebook:

    Travelling along Rose Street out to 469 from New Haven, turn to the right and voila, you will see the old traces of the canal. Here is the remnant of the towpath and dip, behind homes in Tanglewood. — in New Haven, Indiana.

     

    Locations of visible remnants with photos discussed April 20, 2024 and April 21, 2024 on True Fort Wayne Indiana History on Facebook.

  27. The Remains of the Wabash-Erie Canal through Allen County with photos on an archived April 12, 2002 Geocities site on the Internet Archive Wayback Machine. The Remains of the St. Joseph Feeder Canal an archived 04/12/2002 Geocities user generated web page without the photos is mirrored in October 2009 to the archive site oocities.org.
  28. Report of the Commissioners of the Wabash and Erie Canal By Indiana. Board of Canal Commissioners · 1835 a Google eBook. It is likely there were reports for many years.
  29. The route to Swift's Park (Robison Park) with photos was discussed July 1, 2016 photos and discussion and Fort Wayne Feeder Canal for the Wabash & Erie Canal .
  30. Take a Boat Ride on the Wabash and Erie Canal! by Sara published May 24, 2014 on the Home of Purdue blog.
  31. Wabash & Erie Canal on Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.
  32. Wabash and Erie Canal group on Facebook.
  33. Wabash & Erie Canal map and photos from Ed Pope
  34. Wabash & Erie Canal earthlink site links on to other web sites from 19th Century U.S. Canals.
  35. Wabash & Erie Canal Towpath Trail follows along the path of the former canal connecting various area trails. It is 5.5 miles from Rockhill Park to the Lutheran Hospital campus, weaving through beautiful neighborhoods, scenic marshlands and near areas of commerce. The trail is a bike and pedestrian connection between the Aboite Trails and the Rivergreenway, providing more than 60 miles of connected trails within the trail network. Copied from the Fort Wayne Parks Trails page which also has a map.
  36. Wabash and Erie Canals collection at the Indiana State Library.
  37. Wabash & Erie Canal Park on Facebook in Delphi, Indiana and their web site.
  38. Remnants Of The Wabash & Erie Canal: Fort Wayne/New Haven, Indiana Facebook page that shares and posts photos and information.
  39. Wabash and Erie Canal Company Records, 1833–1877 are available from the Manuscripts and Archives Department, William Henry Smith Memorial Library, Indiana Historical Society, 450 West Ohio Street, Indianapolis, IN 46202-3269.
  40. Wabash and Erie Canal in Indiana Rates of Toll for 1850 poster shown in the digital collections at the Indiana Historical Society
  41. Collection # M 0758, OM 0392 WABASH AND ERIE CANAL COMPANY, RECORDS, 1833–1877 (BULK 1833–1862) Collection Information, Historical Sketch, Scope and Content Note, Series Contents, Cataloging Information, Processed by Colby Barkes, 12 June 2001, Revised 23 September 2003, Manuscripts and Archives Department, William Henry Smith Memorial Library, Indiana Historical Society
  42. Wabash & Erie Canal marker State Highway 58 and State Highway 57, Elnora (Daviess County, Indiana), installed in 2007 Indiana Historical Bureau and Elmore Township Community Association, Inc. lists lots of interesting references on the webpage by Indiana Historical Bureau.
  43. St. Patrick Oratory celebrates patron saint by Joshua Schipper published March 22, 2022 in Today's Catholic. It starts out: A good deal of early Catholic history in northeastern Indiana revolves around the building of the iconic Wabash-Erie Canal in the 19th century. Fort Wayne has two streets named for prominent Catholic Francis Comparet, who hosted priests ministering to the area’s canal workers during the time that the Diocese of Vincennes had jurisdiction over the city. Comparet even notified the diocese that an estimated 2,000 Catholic canalmen had gone roughly six months without access to the sacraments. The article continues discussing Lagro a town in Lagro Township, Wabash County.
  44. Picture of the Wabash and Erie Canal at Richvalley with water in it. This picture was taken in 2015 after heavy rains....

    Posted by Wabash County Historian on Tuesday, April 9, 2024

    Tuesday, April 9, 2024 post by the Wabash County Historian on Facebook:

    Picture of the Wabash and Erie Canal at Richvalley with water in it. This picture was taken in 2015 after heavy rains. One can plainly see the path of the Wabash and Erie Canal dug through here in the 1830s by Irish laborers. This is at Richvalley looking west. On its south berm is old US24 and on the north the railroad. Further west to the county line the canal is so overgrown with trees it is hard to see but it too had water in it. Yes, it was big enough for two canal boats to pass. Most of the time travel on a canal boat was a leisurely trip. One could sit on the deck and watch the scenery as you traveled at a 5 mph pace. But not all was peaceful on the canal. Near this site in June of 1854 the crew of the line boat "Today" got into a fight with the crew of the "Hanna", a J.W. King boat, while passing each other. At first they just called each other names but someone went to far. The men soon became violent objects at each other. In the ensuing altercation one man was dangerously wounded with a hatchet. The blow cut off the top portion of his skull exposing the brain. Thinking he was dead they hurried on to Wabash but when they got him to Wabash and a doctor he managed to live. In the meantime the Wabash County Sheriff rounded up a posse and went in search of the other crew whom they found and arrested three men. Since the wounded man was recovering they were set free. Wabash records also show that in the 1850s an runaway slave had managed to get to Wabash County on his way to seeking freedom in Canada. He was discovered in Wabash County by bounty hunters and arrested. They were taking him back to the South by Canal boat. He was chained at the wrists and legs. Again, near Richvalley, he planned an escape. When his guards were not looking he jumped from the boat onto the berm and scrambled to get to his feet and run. As he was doing so, he guards saw him and rather than chase him, the shot him and left him for dead. His body was later found and buried in the Richvalley Cemetery. The chains were kept and used in the bullpen of the jail for many years. Later they ended up in the Wabash County Museum.

  45. April 8, 2022 Mitch Harper on True Fort Wayne Indiana History on Facebook shared the article Water Over Water: The History of the Fall Creek Aqueduct on the Central Canal in Indianapolis saying it will deepen your appreciation fo the aquaduct over the Saint Marys near West Main Street for the Wabash & Erie Canal.
  46. Irish Immigrants Left Their Mark Building the Wabash-Erie Canal by Joshua Schipper | Oct 4, 2022 | on  Fort Wayne Media Collaborative. See our Irish section.
  47. A December 10, 2022 discussion on True Fort Wayne Indiana History on Facebook with many photos near a sign on I-469 near Rose Avenue for the Wabash & Erie Canal.

    June 14, 2012 post by Remnants Of The Wabash & Erie Canal: Fort Wayne/New Haven, Indiana on Facebook:

    Travelling along Rose Street out to 469 from New Haven, turn to the right and voila, you will see the old traces of the canal. Here is the remnant of the towpath and dip, behind homes in Tanglewood. — in New Haven, Indiana.

  48. Lock 44 Park in Grand Rapids, Ohio.

    Posted by American Canal Society on Friday, September 29, 2023

    Friday, September 29, 2023 video post by the American Canal Society on Facebook:

    Lock 44 Park in Grand Rapids, Ohio.

  49. Check out this interesting article from our friends at the Erie Canal Museum! Similarly, when the Wabash & Erie Canal...

    Posted by Wabash & Erie Canal Park on Friday, February 23, 2024

    February 23, 2024 post by Wabash & Erie Canal Park on Facebook:

    Check out this interesting article from our friends at the Erie Canal Museum! Similarly, when the Wabash & Erie Canal froze in the winter, ice would be harvested from certain segments.

    Just north of Lafayette (along present-day 9th Street near Oscar Winski), there was a basin that was used to harvest ice. We aren't sure if Indiana ice could last as far into the year as upstate New York ice, so we'll have to investigate that 🤔

  50. Metamora Lock 25 Whitewater Canal

    The video below this image will play:

    Thursday, May 23, 2024 video post on Canals and Locks on Facebook:

    Here is a couple shots and a small video of Lock 25 on the Whitewater canal 5-23-2024. This Lock is located in Metamora, Indiana, USA. This lock was retrofitted with a water wheel after navigation ended and the canal is still watered to this day to provide hydraulic power for the still active Metamora Grist Mill. Water is provided from the Laurel Feeder dam about 6 miles north of this location. More on that later. This wonderful charming town is a must visit! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitewater_Canal

    Metamora Grist Mill on The Historical Marker Datatbase HMdb.org.

  51. https://www.facebook.com/groups/273569959022762/permalink/405195342526889/?mibextid=rS40aB7S9Ucbxw6v

    Posted by Remnants Of The Wabash & Erie Canal: Fort Wayne/New Haven, Indiana on Saturday, July 13, 2024

    Saturday, July 13, 2024 shared post by Remnants Of The Wabash & Erie Canal: Fort Wayne/New Haven, Indiana on Facebook:

    July 12, 2024 post on Indiana History on Facebook:

    Colorized photo of workers cleaning out the Canal in Indianapolis around 1909.

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