Interesting Places in Peninsula, OH. Bridges and Locks on the Cuyahoga River, Train Station & Depot

Today we're back with another video of cool spots we found during our journeys. This video showcases some interesting spots in Peninsula, OH, including locks and bridges along the Cuyahoga River, and old train station and depot, and the town ballroom that is now a Winking Lizard restaurant. Keep an eye on our channel to see more adventures we come across. Let us know some cool areas you've discovered!

https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/history-of-the-ohio-erie-canal.htm

The Ohio & Erie Canal traveled through the Cuyahoga Valley on its way to connecting the Ohio River with Lake Erie. Wherever this man-made ditch went, change followed: change for the Cuyahoga Valley, the region, and the nation. In the wake of the canal came prosperity, a national transportation system, and a national market economy. As you travel on the Towpath Trail, consider how the canal beside you once transformed the country.
he Ohio & Erie Canal traveled through the Cuyahoga Valley on its way to connecting the Ohio River with Lake Erie. Wherever this man-made ditch went, change followed: change for the Cuyahoga Valley, the region, and the nation. In the wake of the canal came prosperity, a national transportation system, and a national market economy.

Connecting the Frontier and the Nation
In the early 1800s, most of the United States was frontier, sparsely settled by independent Indian nations and wandering explorers. Many European settlers came west to places like the Cuyahoga Valley seeking rich land to farm. Once here, most settlers struggled just to be self-sufficient. Even if they could raise a crop, getting surplus to markets required a journey of more than a month. The prices paid for these goods hardly made the journey worthwhile.

The United States was still new: a young nation founded on democracy with vast undeveloped resources. In the East, the economy depended on imports from Europe. The West had no efficient way to export goods over the Appalachian Mountains. This growing nation focused its energy on “internal improvements.”
Building the National Transportation System
The first step towards uniting a country divided by geography began in 1817 with construction of the Erie Canal. This canal linked New York’s Hudson River with Lake Erie at Buffalo. The Erie Canal opened in 1825, immediately benefiting New York and beyond.

The Erie Canal was the beginning of a national transportation system, connecting ports on the Great Lakes with eastern markets. To reach into the Midwest, America needed canals built farther inland. Seeing the benefits of the Erie Canal, Ohio caught canal fever. By 1825, plans to link Lake Erie with the Ohio River were underway. Many routes were under consideration, but a continental divide in northern Ohio created a major obstacle. Geography and politics both affected decisions about the canal’s route. At the divide’s highest point, today’s Summit County, the canal would need additional sources of water. The Cuyahoga River and the nearby Portage Lakes could supply that water.

When Simon Perkins offered land in what is now Akron, the state decided to route the canal through the Cuyahoga Valley. Power and money motivated land owners, such as Peninsula’s Herman Bronson, who offered free land to the state—if the canal would pass through their property. Using design specifications from the Erie Canal, construction on the Ohio & Erie Canal began throughout the state in 1825. It took two years of hand digging to complete the section from Cleveland to Akron, and five more years to finish all the sections. Dug largely by Irish and German immigrants, this four-foot-deep ditch stretched 308 miles to Portsmouth on the Ohio River. By the fall of 1832, the canal promised passage from Cleveland to Cincinnati in 80 hours, a trip that had once taken weeks.

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