Indiana

Canal History

The canals of the mid-west state were built to connect the Great Lakes with the Ohio/Mississippi rivers. In this way the commerce of the state would have two outlets, either east toward the Erie Canal and New York City, or south toward the Gulf of Mexico and New Orleans. The 460-mile-long Walbash and Erie began in Ohio and passed through the Wabash Valley on its course to the Ohio River. It was the longest canal built in North America. The 76-mile-long Whitewater Canal ran from the Ohio River north to Lawrenceburg. Other shorter canals were built but never connected to the Great Lakes or Ohio River.

From the Canal Society of Indiana
https://www.in.gov/history/for-educators/download-issues-of-the-indiana-historian/canal-mania-in-indiana/map-of-indiana-canals-1805-1915/

1) Ohio Falls Canal–to provide passage around the Falls of the Ohio, 1805, 1816; 2) Wabash and Erie Canal--to connect Lake Erie with the Ohio River through the Wabash Valley, 1827; 3) Whitewater Canal–to connect Whitewater Valley with the Ohio River, 1833, 1836; 3a , 3b) . Surveys, 1825, 1837 of proposed routes for Whitewater Canal; 4) Richmond and Brookville Canal–to connect Richmond to Whitewater Canal, 1837; 5) Central Canal–to connect Wabash River with Ohio River at Evansville, 1836; 6) Erie and Michigan Canal–linking Wabash and Erie Canal with Lake Michigan, 1836; 7) 6a – 6d . Surveys completed to link Lake Michigan and Wabash Valley, 1829, 1830, 1876, 1915.

CANAL GROUPS AND ORGANIZATIONS

Canal Society of Indiana . This site has a canal locator and a Sites to Visit page, along with links that will take you to the various organizations around the state.

The Wabash and Erie Canal at Delphi. This park recreates a canal village of the 1850s. It has a museum, village shops and houses, industrial sites, and a canal boat ride along the Wabash and Erie.

Historic Metamora is a membership group that works to preserve the entire canal village of Metamora.

Major Repositories and archives

This is a listing of the larger archive holdings. Many of the small volunteer-run historical societies along the routes of the canals will likely have hidden collections and thus, they should not be over-looked.

The Indiana Historical Bureau offers some information on their website and a canal bibliography that might help narrow your searching.

Indiana Historical Society offers digital and in-person research.

The Canal Society of Indiana offers some digital records such as past newsletters and guidebooks on their site.

The Allen County – Fort Wayne Historical Society collection contains information about the Wabash and Erie Canal. Their site has a link to the Helmke Library digital collection at Purdue University at Fort Wayne where you will find many useful resources.

CANAL INDEX PAGES

The “canal index” project is an on-going project of the ACS to document canal sites. Most of the information is from the 1970-1990 time period, however new pages are being added. Feel free to contribute to this project by submitting a form.

Note: Canals in blue and underlined have index sheets which are accessible by double clicking on the hyperlink.  Canals listed in green below do not yet have index sheets.  They are listed here to make the list more complete.  It is intended to add index sheets for them in the future.

Please note that these are the actual pages done in the early 1970s.  Changes have occurred since and there are some inaccuracies in the information on the pages.

Revised 04/29/2022