The Mahoning River could only be used by small flat-bottomed boats because of the many obstructions in the river bed.  Trails developed and improved by Native Americans became the first roads through the Mahoning Valley.  But in the 1830s a better means of transportation had to be found to ship locally mined coal.

A canal that ran from Pittsburgh to Akron, through Youngstown and Warren, was completed in the fall of 1840.  It was called the Pennsylvania and Ohio, or “Cross Cut” canal because it served as a cross-state connection between the Beaver River and the Ohio and Erie Canal at Akron.  The P&O had 54 locks, 9 dams, and 2 aqueducts to handle a difference of more than 400 feet in elevation between Akron and the Beaver River.

The canal boats were 60 feet long and 10 feet wide.  They could carry up to 15 tons of freight and up to 60 passengers.  Travelers could go from Beaver to Warren in 18 hours, and the entire 126 mile trip to Cleveland cost $3.50, meals and lodging included.  Coal, iron, dairy products, and grain could be shipped by canal boat, stimulating the economic growth of the Mahoning Valley.  At its busiest, 25 boats passed through each lock in a day.

Many of the same entrepreneurs who had supported the building of the canal invested in railroads.  The Cleveland and Mahoning Railroad, which opened in 1856, offered a faster, cheaper means of transportation and foretold the end of the canals.  After the Civil War, new railroad tracks were laid on the old canal beds as abandoned barges rotted nearby.

Why would the river determine transportation routes?  Why would industries want to be close to the river?  Why would rail lines follow the channels of old canals?  Visit the Mahoning Valley Historical Society to learn more about local transportation.  You can also go to www.mahoninghistory.org, and, under ‘Education,’ and ‘What Do You Know,’ click on an article title to access downloadable files of these images.

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