- Ohio History in 2000 Words
- Mound Builders
- Native Ohioans
- The Ohio Company
- Ohio's Wood Forts
- Indian Wars
- War of 1812
- Ohio's Canals
- Ohio's Road
- Scenic Railroads / Museums
- Underground Railroad
- Civil War in Ohio
Locks enabled canal boats to rise and lower with the terrain. As a canal boat moved upstream
it required someway of rising in elevation. This was accomplished by dividing up areas along
the way into sections. Each section had a lock at each end. These were called lift-locks.
Above: open lock gates with tops of 2 wicket handles showing
A lift-lock had swinging gates at each end of the chamber. The chambers were constructed usually out of limestone, a common type of stone found in Ohio that was relatively easy to shape.
By releasing and admitting water into the chamber, the lock was capable of lifting and lowering boats about 8'.
The locks were hand operated and filled or drain of water by opening or closing wicket gates at the bottom of the lock gate. By cranking these gates by hand, it allowed water to enter or exit the lock.
The building was constructed as the house for the Lockkeeper of the Canal, who collected the tolls and kept records of commerce on the canal.
At each lock along the canal there would be someone responsible for operating the lock's gates, and for collecting tolls. The lock keeper would be on call 24 hours a day.
Some of the locks were named after a prominent lock keeper, a nearby town or important geographical feature. Some locks are known by more than one name and some are only known by their number.
Just 2 years after the groundbreaking the first boat, "the State of Ohio" carried Governor Trimble and others the 38 miles from Portage Summit near Akron to Cleveland.
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