Logan’s oldest citizens recall canal era scenes and danger
Logan residents recount canal days in the Hocking Valley as the 1837 project from Bowner’s lock to Nelsonville opened by 1840 and extended to Athens. They describe construction costs about 947 thousand dollars, Buckeye Lake water supply, and the network of locks dams aqueducts, towpaths, and reliance on horses and mules to move boats amid romance, tragedy, and humor.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Clinton Webb
Messenger
Logan
Hocking Valley
Hocking Canal
Bowner’s Lock
Lancaster
Nelsonville
Athens
Carroll Side
Ohio Canal
Cleveland
Portsmouth
Ohio
Buckeye Lake
Bowner
Rush Creek
Canal era reshaped Logan and Hocking County growth
The canal opened new markets for Hocking county farmers and coal and clay operators, boosting Logan's growth from 1840 to 1850. The piece traces riverfront mustering points, Rippey warehouse operations, early schools and churches, and the bustling trade along Main Street including wheat shipments to Cleveland. It notes key figures like Charles W. James Sr and Jesse Collins, early mayors, and details canal geography, deep cut, and historic mills, breweries, and caverns used for storage.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Hocking County
Logan
Falls Township
Main Street
John Rochester and Son
Mulberry Street
Rippey
Second Street
Old Dock Rings Still Remain Along Mulberry Street Wharf
The article recalls the John Rochester and Son's warehouse near Mulberry Street, a busy waterfront hub with an old iron ring for unloading boats. It notes Sunday unloads by Rochester's community, local dry docks, and a small passenger boat for Remple grove outings. It describes canal boats as eighty feet long, twelve to fifteen feet wide, drawing three to three and a half feet, with tiller steered from the rear and powered by horses or mules. Crew sizes varied by boat type, with day and night service and women often aboard as cooks and washing lines strung on deck during trips.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Andrew Hall
Main Street
Barton Holl
I. N. Steirs
McKinney's Wharf
Market Street
Eyersner
James and Dorr
Keynes
Tritsch
the Lumber and Supply Company
Jacob Tritsch
Mulberry Street
John Rochester and Son
Rochester
Logan Foundry
G. M. Webb
Toerner Greenhouses
Zeke Poling
David Ogden
Remple Grove
Canal Tow Lines and Coal Boats Through Logan Canal
Historic notes recount tow lines carried across decks as coal boats passed through the canal near Logan. Early boats sparked crowds, with stone coal and winter boat camps from Falls Mill lock to John Dougherty farm. By spring, boats moved north. local merchants Martin Hartman and Mack Montgomery served boatmen, while aging canal veterans include Martin Hartman and Noah Cook among others in Logan.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Logan
Falls Mill
John Dougherty
Martin Hartman, Sr
Falls Mill Lock
Mack Montgomery
Mulberry
Front Streets
Martin Hartman
Noah Cook
Thomas Colling
Bob McFall
Shawnee
Serfall
LIST OF OLD CAPTAINS RECALLED AND CANAL BOAT HISTORY
Old records recall numerous named boats and captains including Virginia Porter Alexander Adwena Killian Johnson Twins Ohio Jake Lehman Falcon John Patton Elmira Than Matheny Com stock Eli Patton Storm Irene Henry Myers Statesman John Ruff Tootweiler James Kittle G. M. Webb Gilruth Webb Meteor Jack Arnold Friendship Denny Noonan Ar mada Ella Wilkes Constitution George Thatcher Falls Mill Andrew McKinney Myra Ira Gage Ingomar Abraham Cook Gale Nick Rowe American Jerome Bishop Flora John Montgomery Receiver Alex Reed Kinkead John Rafferty Emperor David Crooks Luella Isiah Voris Harrison Havewell Gale Patterson. Four steamers Indianola Magnolia Saxony D Price, only captain recalled is Thomas Sharaden. Steamers withdrawn due to higher maintenance from propellers washing canal banks. Valley Forge named first all white boat, painted white. three dapple gray horses drew towline. First cargo salt from Green and Gould salt works at Beaumont. Slabby near Beaumont once called Tyler.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Virginia
Porter Alexander
Adwena
Killian Johnson
Ohio
Jake Lehman
Falcon
John Patton
Elmira
Than Matheny
Comstock
Eli Patton
Storm
Irene
Henry Myers
Statesman
John Ruff
Tootweiler
James Kittle
G. M. Webb
Gilruth Webb
Meteor
Jack Arnold
Friendship
Green
Gould Salt Works
Beaumont
Slabby
Tyler
Ohio Canal System Recalled by Local Historian
W. E. Peters notes canals began with private capital and were later bought by the state. He describes Ohio’s canal network connecting eighty-eight counties, the Miami and Erie Canal from Cincinnati to Toledo, and the Ohio Canal from Portsmouth to Cleveland, as a predecessor to rail transportation.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Ohio
Cincinnati
Toledo
Portsmouth
Cleveland
Ohio Canals Spurred Growth and Private Funding Details
The Ohio canal system cost about 13 million after private gifts and federal land donation. By 1850 roughly one thousand miles of canals operated, including the Miami and Exie, Ohio, Hocking, and Walhonding lines. Private capital built many branches later state purchases expanded the network. The era followed wilderness with scattered 50,000 inhabitants, limited trade and no wide markets until steamboats and canal schemes opened opportunities.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Ohio
Miami
Exie
Hocking
Walhonding
Lake Exiga
Ohio River
Also Mentioned on This Page
Rockbridge
The
Perry County Sportsmen's Club
Wolfe
Flora Eckhart
Cherrington Hospital
Spring
Second Streets
Claude Grinstead
Charles W. James Sr
Jesse Collins
Andrew McKinney
Charles W. James, Jr
Charles W. James
J. P. Rochester
Ducs
Rastus Allen
Front Street
George Hartman
Shrenk
Jake Frasch
Charles Becker
Andrew Holl
Holl
Germany
Fred Weymaster
W. E. Peters
Waterways
New York
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