{"id":130737,"date":"2020-04-26T22:49:49","date_gmt":"2020-04-27T03:49:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=130737"},"modified":"2020-04-28T00:11:59","modified_gmt":"2020-04-28T05:11:59","slug":"miami-erie-canal-brings-people-to-paulding-county","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2020\/04\/26\/miami-erie-canal-brings-people-to-paulding-county\/","title":{"rendered":"Miami & Erie Canal brings people to area"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Editor\u2019s note: This is one of a series of articles on Paulding County\u2019s Bicentennial celebration this year.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

JANE NICE\/<\/strong>for the Van Wert independent<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAULDING — Those who can trace their Paulding County family history to the mid-1800s would find their roots are likely in the canals — either in their construction or the early settlements that dotted the routes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
After much of the great timber was cleared and the railroad moved in, the structures that were vital to the early canal towns were demolished and the land claimed for farming. The remnants of a couple of locks and aqueducts, a structure or two, and the cemeteries with stones marking the graves of the canal era pioneers are all that remain of the Miami & Erie Canal. Lock 21, located south of Junction, is now part of the Buckeye Trail. Photos courtesy Paulding County Bicentennial Committee<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Originally known as the \u201cMiami Extension Canal\u201d\nbecause it extended the route built between Cincinnati and Dayton, the Miami\n& Erie Canal opened from Dayton to Junction in 1845, cutting a north and\nsouth path in eastern Paulding County through Auglaize, Brown and Washington\ntownships. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

More than a dozen small towns and ports were\nestablished on the canal\u2019s course, and an important part of the Great Black\nSwamp\u2019s history — the clearing of the great forests — rests on these now\ndefunct waterways that hauled timber, its biggest natural resource, away to\nother markets. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Imagine climbing aboard a packet boat in the\nmid-1800s where the Wabash & Erie Canal meets the Miami & Erie in\nnortheastern Paulding County. The canal era is booming and you are along for\nthe ride. Your boat will be pulled along by rope attached to horses or mules\nthat walk along a towpath running parallel to the canal at an average speed of\nfour miles an hour, so as not to damage the canal\u2019s banks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Being the point where the two canals meet,\nJunction is bustling. Daily packet lines run on both canals, and many\npassengers are transferred here. Two or three hotels, three or four large dry\ngoods or grocery stores, and about half a dozen saloons, as well as a brewery\nand a distillery serve the public here. <\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Junction\u2019s wharves are lined with canal boats\nloading and unloading grain and freight. Toll collector James G. Haley\u2019s office\nis near the port. Three large grain warehouses and a gristmill help manage\nlocal commodities, and William K. Daggett operates a sawmill a mile north of\ntown with power furnished by the canal\u2019s water. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wave good-bye to the biggest port in the county\nand head south on the shallow waters. The next burg, just one and a half miles\nsouth of Junction, is Germantown. A stone aqueduct is located near the site of\nthis settlement, whose glory days were brief, and was a likely example of canal\nworker Fred Myers\u2019 recollections in a 1922 interview about how most of the\ntowns along the canal were small, \u201cbut all were there when it came to noise and\nfurnishing amusement and pleasure for the boatman and passengers alike.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Slow down and experience Lock 21 in Brown Township\nand the thrill of the water being raised or lowered by the lockkeeper who\nmanages the gates so that the boat can continue its journey. Greet locals\nstanding on the banks who have come to watch this interesting process. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As you head into Oquanoxa\u2019s Reserve, be sure to\npeer into the dense forest to look for Indians. It is said that some could\nstill be spotted in Paulding County during the canal era. Also watch for people\nfishing and swimming in the canal, as many use the waters for recreation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next, you will pass near Charloe, a village\npicturesquely situated between the canal and the Auglaize River. Canal\nactivities are regularly watched in this populated area when Charloe is the\ncounty seat, with a brick courthouse, a hotel and stores, and a population of\n400-500. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bystanders are entertained by the passing of vessels such as the Arabella<\/em>, the Polar Star<\/em>, the St. Andrews<\/em>, the Vettie Cook<\/em>, the Dreadnot, <\/em>and the Ulazeppa.<\/em> When two boats meet on the waterway, protocol is for them both to slow to two miles per hour to safely pass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About a mile south of Charloe sits Canalport. This\nvillage is more of a \u201cpaper town,\u201d plotted for home lots and buildings that\nnever came. It does, however, serve an important role on the canal route\nbesides being an export spot for timber. Between 1858-1868 large blocks of\nmagnesium limestone are cut into building blocks at the Noble Stone Quarry and\ncarried to the canal by a half-mile long tramway. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Canalport was commonly called \u201cExchange Bridge\u201d or\n\u201cChange Bridge.\u201d Up to this point on your journey the towpath has been on your\nright, but here the mules cross the canal on a bridge and the towpath will be\non your left for the remainder of your journey. Near the canal, a large barn\nhouses rested mules and horses ready to be exchanged and take a turn towing the\nboats. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before you come to Melrose, you will pass one of\nthe earliest towns established on the canal. St. Andrews was founded in 1850,\nbut the town could not compete with Melrose to its south, and will be abandoned\nby 1881.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although it is laid out in 1854, Melrose will not\nbecome much of a town until the railroad comes through in 1881. Even earlier,\nthis dock served as a supply spot for the canal builders. As you pass, watch\nfor massive timbers banked on its shore, waiting to be floated in the canal to\nports in Toledo and beyond. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the waterway, be on the lookout for the canal\npacket Willie, <\/em>which regularly carries travelers\nfrom Melrose to Defiance on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and to Delphos on\nTuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The last port on the Miami & Erie in Brown Township\nis Newburgh, which is spelled a variety of ways, but it does not matter. Most\nrefer to the town as \u201cRoyal Oak\u201d after A.L. Darling, who came from New York\nwith a stock of supplies to start a grocery store, crudely wrote \u201cRoyal Oak\nGrocery\u201d with a piece of charcoal on a board from a box and hung it on an oak\ntree outside of his cabin, where he sold groceries out of the front room.\nDarling marries Sarah Hoover in 1860, dies two years later in the Civil War,\nand is buried in the Little Auglaize Cemetery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

View a beautiful stone aqueduct near Royal Oak, a\nbusy town with a school, church, two stores, a post office, a hotel and a wagon\nshop. It is also a banking point for timber and a shipping point for lumber,\nstaves, cordwood and hoop poles. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wave at Captain Gleason if you pass him. His steam\npacket carries passengers and light freight from Royal Oak to Defiance and\nDelphos at speeds of up to six miles per hour. Captain Gleason is known for his\npunctual schedule, and once left his own wife in Defiance when she had not\nreturned to the dock at the appointed hour after a shopping expedition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Timberville, also known as Hipp\u2019s Lock, was a canal town in Washington Township. Timberville was awarded a post office in 1868. Other towns on the Miami & Erie Canal that had post offices, by order of the earliest, were Charloe (1840), Junction (1842), Doylestown (1851), Murat (1852), Hamer (1857), Royal Oak (1864), Melrose (1882), and Mandale (1892).<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Drift out of Brown and into Washington Township,\nand pass Murat, an early canal town that is platted in 1853 with 44 lots on\neach side of the canal. The \u201cKnox\u201d School is located in Murat, as well as a\nstore and a sawmill. Admire the bridge here that is so high it allows boats to\ntravel beneath it without having to be opened, as well as the wider waterway,\nwhich serves as a canal boat turnaround. Much timber leaves the banks of Murat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About a mile further on the waterway you will\nencounter the bustling village of Timberville, which is more commonly known as\n\u201cHipp\u2019s Lock.\u201d In 1863 John Hipp established a store and a gristmill, and the\nfew settlers who live for miles around come to Hipp\u2019s Mill to have their\ncornmeal ground. Two stores, a hotel, a blacksmith shop, a tavern and a post\noffice serve settlers and travelers alike at this location.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Much stave timber, cord and bolt wood leaves this\ncanal port, as well as massive ship timber cut by French Canadian woodsmen and\nexported to make boat masts in Europe, or ships built for use by the North in\nthe Civil War.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Travel south through Doylestown, named for Samuel Doyle Sr., who operates a packet line that carries mail from Cincinnati to Toledo, and owns 240 acres west of the canal. According to The History of the Maumee Valley, 1872<\/em>, Doyle and a partner were the first to establish regular packet lines on the canals. Knapp writes, \u201cSamuel Doyle was the first to experiment with steam on the Miami Canal, having built in 1845, the propeller ship Niagara<\/em> at a cost of $10,000 \u2026 and proved a failure financially.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Past Doylestown is a log and supply depot for the canal crews, that will later become the village of Mandale. Next, in the southwestern corner of Paulding County, less than a mile from the Putnam County line, is the village of Hamer. Plotted in 1848 with 37 lots on three streets, Hamer is Paulding County\u2019s southernmost canal town. It has a school, a church, a sawmill, a general store, a freight warehouse, a blacksmith shop, and a post office. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next time: The\nWabash & Erie Canal and the Reservoir War.<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

More information on the bicentennial can be found\non Facebook at www.facebook.com\/PauldingCounty200<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Editor\u2019s note: This is one of a series of articles on Paulding County\u2019s Bicentennial celebration this year. JANE NICE\/for the Van Wert independent PAULDING — Those who can trace their Paulding County family history to the mid-1800s would find their roots are likely in the canals — either in their construction or the early settlements […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-130737","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-22 19:26:57","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130737","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=130737"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130737\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=130737"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=130737"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=130737"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}