1832-1874
(468 Miles – Longest Canal Built in North America )
The Wabash and Erie Canal was a canal built from Lake Erie to the Ohio River, thus linking New York City (via the Erie Canal) to New Orleans via a combination of rivers, lake and canals; ultimately creating one of the first “interstates” in the United States.
The original Wabash & Erie Canal was designed to have Toledo OH as its northern terminus with a southern terminus of Lafayette IN, with an extension to Terre Haute, IN in 1842. By the time the first packet boat made the complete journey in September of 1853, the Wabash and Erie Canal was actually a combination of four canals:
- Miami and Erie Canal from the Maumee River near Toledo, OH to Junction, OH (Originally the Wabash & Erie Canal but later renamed)
- Wabash and Erie Canal from Junction, OH to Lafayette, IN (extended to Terre Haute, Indiana),
- Cross Cut Canal from Terre Haute, Indiana, to Point Commerce, IN (Worthington),
- Central Canal (Southern Division) from Worthington to Evansville, IN
Counties of the Wabash & Erie Canal
Click on the county name to the left of the screen to explore the canal in that county
Ohio Counties
WABASH-ERIE CANAL STATS & STRUCTURES
WABASH-ERIE CANAL TOUR GUIDES
(April 2015)
(April 2013)
(April 2011)
(October 2010)
(April 2009)
(March 2007)
(March 2006)
(March 2004)
(April 2002)
(March 2001)
(March 2000)
(April 1999)
(March 1998)
(April 1997)
(AUGUST 2024)
CSI ARTICLESABOUT THE WABASH-ERIE CANAL
VOLUME VIII (2024)
- Bridging Waterways
- Vanished Canal Life Returns In More Bash Interviews
- W & E Canal Grocery Order
- Wildcat Creek Dam & Slack Water Navigation Area
- Determining the Canal Routes In Indiana
- Canal Notes #13: Lake Wabash
- Fowler Park Marks Culvert Timbers
- Canal Items On E-Bay
- Wabash-Erie Canal Walk & Talk
- Watering the Wabash & Erie Canal
- Lewis Cass
- Canal Notes No. 14: Cap’t Asa
- CSI Signs Up For Silver Creek Culvert And Lock # 11
- Burndt Finds/Questions Old Article About Bell In Canal
- Canal Notes No. 15: Kiser’s Oxen
- W & E Sign Erected on State Road 101
- Wabash & Erie Canal Focus of Archaeology Dig
VOLUME VII (2023)
VOLUME VI (2022)
VOLUME V (2021)
VOLUME IV (2020)
VOLUME III (2019)
VOLUME II (2018)
VOLUME I (2017)
VOLUME I (2002)
VOLUME II (2003)
VOLUME III (2004)
VOLUME IV (2005)
VOLUME I (19XX)
VOLUME I (1989/90)
- 1847 Chief Engineers Report: From State Line to Junction with Miami Line
- Canal Queries
- 1847 Chief Engineers Report: From Rd Bridge No. 9 to Lock No. 4
- 1847 Chief Engineers Report: From Lock No. 4 to Culvert 44
- Delphi: 4th of July in the Park
- Trustees Win One
- Daviess Circuit Court: August 1858
- 1847 Chief Engineers Report: From Culvert 44 to Culvert 63
- Drowned
- 1847 Chief Engineers Report: From Culvert 63 to Culvert 78
- Canal Work Continues at Delphi
VOLUME II (1990)
- Daviess Circuit Court: August 1858
- 1847 Chief Engineers Report: From Culvert 44 to Culvert 63
- Drowned
- 1847 Chief Engineers Report: From Culvert 63 to Culvert 78
- Wooden Locks on the Wabash & Erie Canal
- 1847 Chief Engineer’s Report: Flood Gates Above Culvert 79 to Road Bridge No. 42
- 100 Labourers Wanted
- Accident Reported on the Wabash & Erie Canal
- 1847 Chief Engineer’s Report: Lock 29 to Wild Cat Creek Dam
- Trustees Win One
VOLUME III (1991/92)
- Doyle’s Packet
- Burris House
- 1847 Chief Engineer’s Report: Wild Cat Creek to Culvert 127
- Celebration of the Opening of the Wabash & Erie Canal
- 1847 Chief Engineer’s Report: Young’s Branch to Lodi
- Ohio Canal Lands Proclamation
- Robert Lucas (Governor Ohio) to Noah Noble (Governor Indiana)
- 1827 Federal Land Grants
- What If?
- Epilogue
- Great Times Among the Fishermen
- Indiana’s Canal Reservoirs
- Additional Water Power at Logansport
- Reservoir Examinations
- 1853 Chief Engineer’s Report
- 1854 Chief Engineer’s Report: Coal Creek to Terre Haute
- The Gronauer Lock Diggings
VOLUME IV (1992/93)
- Cross-Cut Lock #50
- Cross-Cut Lock #47
- Main Line Canal Hauls Hoosier Canal Funds 1834
- 1856 Presidential Election on the Dove
- Reed Case
- 1853 Chief Engineer’s Report: Terre Haute to Clay Co. Reservoirs
- Reed Case House (Photograph)
- Timber Box Culvert #31 (Photograph)
- Cross-Cut Lock #50
- Cross-Cut Lock #47
- A Story of the Construction Days of the Wabash & Erie Canal
- 1853 Chief Engineer’s Report: Lock 50 to Lock 59
- White River Feeder Dam – Newberry (Photograph)
- Canal Office Dry Dock
- Boat Pumps
- 1853 Chief Engineer’s Report: Doan’s Creek to Culvert 170
VOLUME V (1993/94)
- The White River Aqueduct
- 1853 Chief Engineer’s Report: Waste Weir above Lock 61 to Culvert No. 182 (Lick Creek)
- Historic Highlights of the St. Joseph River
- Melancholy Accident Coroner’s Notice
- 1853 Chief Engineer’s Report: Culvert No. 183 to Evansville Termius
- Lock 47 (Photograph)
- Canal Bed at Ft. Harrison (Photograph)
- Canal Excitement
- The Evansville Guards in the Clay County Reservoir War
- The Evansville Guards in the Clay County Reservoir War (cont.)
- 1858 Map of Terre Haute
- Blue Hole – Eel River Summit Deep Cut (Photograph)
- Splunge Creek Flood Control Structure (Photograph)
- Fight Ended Before it Started
- The Raging Canawl
- Wabash & Erie Canal Mechanical Structures: Known changes after 1853
- Wabash & Erie Canal Rules & Regulations: Part 1
VOLUME VI (1994/95)
- Packet Boats for the Wabash & Erie Canal
- Canal Celebration at DefianceQuick Trip
- Wabash & Erie Canal Engineer’s Report: Glossary of Terms
- About the Drawings
- Wabash & Erie Canal Rules & Regulations: Part 2
- Covington Canal Boat Arrivals & Departures
- Williamsport Side Cut Canal Boat Sunk
- Issue Dedication: Wabash-Erie Canal (Attica to Armiesburg)
- The Raging Canawl
- Canal Boat Advertisement (Lodi & Lafayette)
- Portland (Fountain) Bluff (Diagram)
- Cost Estimates Table for Division No. 1 (Lafayette to Attica)
- Cost Estimates Table for Division No. 2 (Attica to Covington)
- Cost Estimates Table for Divison No. 3 (Covington to Lodi)
- Cost Estimates Abstract Table (Coal Creek to Terre Haute)
- Portland Bluff
- Wabash & Erie Canal Rules and Regulations: Part 3
VOLUME VII (1995/96)
- Canal Letting Notice
- Census of Wabash
- Wabash & Erie Canal Rules and Regulations: Part 4
- Canal Letting Notice
- Census of Wabash
- An Act for the Relief of the Wabash & Erie Canal Boatmen
- An Act for the Relief of the Wabash & Erie Canal Boatmen (Con’t)
- Paper Mill Burnt (Delphi)
- Wabash & Erie Canal Rules and Regulations: Part 5
- Bridge Builder Notice
- Building the Ninth Street Canal Bridge
VOLUME VIII (1997)
- Railroads vs. Canals
- Wabash & Erie Rules and Regulations: Part 6
- Crab Locomotive for the E & C Railroad
- Iron for the Wabash Valley Railroad
- Slope of Canal Between Locks
- Topographical Dictionary of the State of Indiana
- Horses Stolen
- Passage of the Butler Bill
- A Conclusive Speech on the Improvement of the Wabash-Erie Canal
- Deliverance and Execution of the Butler Bill
VOLUME IX (1998)
- Locating Clinton Lock (Lock No. 40)
- Canal Connections: Michael Nolan
- Traveling in the Archives Indiana
- Canal Water Power
- The Canaler in Indiana
- Canal Rules and Specifications
- Reason for Erie Rules and Specifications
- Wabash and Erie Surveyor’s Letter Home
- Indiana Canals Errata: Vol. 8 No. 3
- Indiana Canals Errata: Vol. 9 No. 1
- Wabash and Erie Canal Feeder Picture
- Workers’ Graves at Georgetown
- Georgetown Cemetery
- Route of the Wabash and Erie Canal
- City Mills and Turn Bridge
- Rules and Specifications
- Explanation of the Rules and Specifications
- Old Photo and Newspaper Article Inspire Research
- Wabash & Erie Canal Travelers
- The Brady Hotel
- Rules and Specifications
- Explanation of the Rules
- Newspaper Clippings: W & E Canal Packets
- Newspaper Clippings: Fashionable Tailoring
VOLUME X (1999)
- Lafayette’s “Red” Canal Warehouse used as Civil War Prison Barracks
- Rules and Specifications
- Explanation of the Rules & Specifications
- Old Wicket Located
- Research Papers for Markers
- Research Papers for Markers: Cross-cut Canal
- Research Papers for Markers: Eel River Feeder
- Rules and Specifications
- Explanation of Rules and Specifications
- Robert English: A Canal Gate Patent
- Montezuma
- Montezuma: Rolland Bently
- Montezuma: Joseph Bowsher
- Montezuma: Anna B. Campbell
- Montezuma: Henry Hargraves & Sam Farrar
- Montezuma: Thomas F. Gaebler
- Montezuma: RM. Gilkeson
- Montezuma: Samuel Denny Hill
- Montezuma: Benjamin Franklin Hudson
- Clear Creek Floodgate – Robert English Patent
- Montezuma: Morris Hughes
- Montezuma: James C. Johnston
- Montezuma: John Emmet Johnston
- Montezuma: Ralph William Johnston
- Montezuma: George McCune
- Montezuma: Arvilla Jane Mushett
- Montezuma: James Mushett
- Montezuma: Caleb M. Richards
- Montezuma: Jedidiah F. Stacey
- Montezuma: J. Wyck VanLandingham
- Montezuma: Septimus VanLandingham
- Other People with Canal Connections: 1870 Census
- Editor’s Note: R. English Flood Gate Operations
- The Sugar Creek Foundry
- The Sugar Creek Foundry: William Garten Coffin
- The Sugar Creek Foundry: William Rhubottom
- The Sugar Creek Foundry: Sam N. Baker
- The Sugar Creek Foundry: David Atcheson
- The Sugar Creek Foundry: Franklin Rayl
- The Sugar Creek Foundry: Alexander Burke
- The Sugar Creek Foundry: Nelson McClure
- The Sugar Creek Foundry: Thomas Carter
- The Sugar Creek Foundry: Robert Addison Coffin
- The Sugar Creek Foundry: R.G. Atcheson
- The Sugar Creek Foundry: George Wilkins
- The Sugar Creek Foundry: Robert Addison Coffin (Additional Information)
- Operation of Clear Creek Floodgate
VOLUME XI (2000)
- The Riley Lock
- Contract for Building the Riley Lock
- Stripping in Warrick County
- Stripping in Warrick County
- Stripping in Warrick County
- Robert Addison Coffin
- Numa vs Canal Town Thugs
- Numa vs Canal Town Thugs (Cont.)
- Numa Plat Map
- The Clear Creek Floodgate
- The Box Culvert
- Wabash & Erie Canal Connections: Lodi
- Clear Creek Flood Gate
- Clear Creek Flood Gate (cont.)
- Who Killed Silas Bowers?
- Wabash & Erie Canal Connections: Armiesburg
VOLUME XII (2001)
- Numa Update
- Helped Move Riley Lock
- Canawler’s Quiz
- Indiana Canals
- Sugar Creek Aqueduct and Lock
- Christmas “Noel” Dagenet
- Canawler’s Quiz
- Devil’s Den and Wright’s Mill
- Joseph Campbell
- Captain John T Campbell
- Devil’s Den Saw Mill
- Bowsher’s Mill
- Riley Swain
- Prier Wright
- Salmon Lusk
- Robert Wright
- Rockport or Wright’s Mill
- Daniel Wright
- Salmon Lusk Wright
- James Harvey Moore
- Saw Mill Across from Wright’s Mill
- Dr. James P. Tucker
- Joseph Milligan
- Zachariah Byers
- Mahlon Cox
- Joseph J. Daniels
- James D. Bullock
- Rockport “Weaver” School
- Wright’s Cemetary
- William Canine
- Joel G. Deer
- Dr. James Boyd
- John Wesley Allee
- Wright Family Still in Parke Co and Canal Society Connection
- And the Winner Is…(Canawler’s Quiz #1)
- The Badger Ledge
- Canawler’s Quiz #2
- More than Canawlers and Railroad Builders
- Attention: Friends of Chief Lagros
- Wabash & Erie Canal Connections: Sylvania
- Canawler’s Quiz #2 Answer
- Canawler’s Quiz #3
VOLUME I (1981)
VOLUME II (1982)
VOLUME III (1983)
VOLUME IV (1984)
- An Evansville Canal Family
- “An Irishman Dead for Every Six Feet of the Wabash & Erie Canal”
- A Partial Listing of Boats Passing To or Through Fort Wayne on the Wabash & Erie Canal, June – Sept. 1845
- Miscellaneous Canal Mishaps, As Reported by the Evansville Daily Journal
- The Six-Mile Reservoir
- Rates of Toll
- Table of Distance on the Wabash & Erie Canal
CANALS OF THE WABASH-ERIE CANAL SYSTEM
Miami-Erie Canal (Ohio)
Crosscut Canal
The Cross-Cut Canal was originally planned to connect the terminus of the Wabash & Erie Canal in Terre Haute to the Central Canal at Point Commerce (Worthington). When the financial crisis of 1838/1839 hit the United States, Indiana was not immune to its effects. All canal construction ceased except the Wabash and Erie Canal. After reaching Terre Haute in 1849, the state of Indiana transferred the canals to private companies and the Wabash & Erie Canal Company of Terre Haute financed the completion of the Cross-Cut Canal and the southern division of the Central Canal, thus linking it into one long canal…The Wabash and Erie Canal.
Counties of the Crosscut Canal
Tour Guides
CSI Articles of the Crosscut Canal
(2017 – Present)
The Tumble is the Canal Society of Indiana’s (CSI) current publication. The Tumble was the first publication of CSI to be completely internet based starting in 2017.
(2002-2016)
The Hoosier Packet was the official Canal Society of Indiana’s publication from 2002 through 2016.
(1986-2002)
The Newsletter began being published in 1986 and was a companion publication of the Canal Society of Indiana’s (CSI) that ran concurrent with Indiana Canals publication. The Newsletter was initially printed with information about CSI. In the mid 990s Newsletter took on a new format and absorbed Indiana Canals into this one publication which became the primary publication of the Canal Society of Indiana until 2002.
(1989 – 2002)
Indiana Canals began being published in 1986 and was a companion publication of the Canal Society of Indiana’s (CSI) that ran concurrent with Newsletter publication. Indiana Canals was initially printed with information about the how the canals function, mechanical features of old and what was still remaining. In the mid 990s Indiana Canals publication was absorbed into the Newsletter which became the prime publication of the Canal Society of Indiana.
Volume V (1993/94)
- Canal Excitement
- The Evansville Guards in the Clay County Reservoir War
- Blue Hole – Eel River Summit Deep Cut (Photograph)
- Splunge Creek Flood Control Structure (Photograph)
Volume VI (1994/95)
Volume XI (2000)
(1981 – 1986)
Indiana Waterways was the first publication of the Canal Society of Indiana. The first edition was published in 1981 several months before the establishment of the Canal Society of Indiana and became the source of information about the development of CSI and information to the members until the creation of Indiana Canals and the Newsletter in 1986.
Volume II (1982)
Central Canal – Southern Division
Originally, the Central Canal was to run from the Wabash & Erie Canal near Peru (Miami Co.) south through the State Capitol of Indianapolis and intersect with the Cross-Cut Canal at Point Commerce (Greene Co.) after which, the canal would proceed to its southern terminus in Evansville (Vanderburgh Co.). The canal was broken up into three geographical divisions and construction began on the Central and Southern Divisions simultaneously.
After four (4) years of construction 20 miles of the lower Southern Division of the Central Canal was completed from the canal terminus in Evansville into central Warrick County near modern Seven Hills Road in 1836. Heavy works were started along the path of the canal in counties north of its northern terminus but with the financial crisis of 1838/39 all work stopped, and the canal sat incomplete for the next 10-11 years. By the early 1840s the Central Canal idea was abandoned, and the Southern Division was renamed the Ohio Canal and continued to operate by that name until 1849. In 1849 The Wabash & Erie Canal Company had decided to extend the WEC south from Terre Haute to Evansville. The route would cross the summit in Clay Co. via the Cross-Cut Canal before descending into Point Commerce (Greene Co.) at which time the canal would follow along the original Southern Division route. By the summer of 1853, construction on the Southern Division of the Central Canal was completed but it had been renamed once again, along with the Cross-Cut Canal, to be part of the 468-mile-long Wabash & Erie Canal.
Counties of the Central Canal – Southern Division
Tour Guides
CSI Articles about the Southern Division of the Central Canal
(2017 – Present)
The Tumble is the Canal Society of Indiana’s (CSI) current publication. The Tumble was the first publication of CSI to be completely internet based starting in 2017.
(2002-2016)
The Hoosier Packet was the official Canal Society of Indiana’s publication from 2002 through 2016.
(1986-2002)
The Newsletter began being published in 1986 and was a companion publication of the Canal Society of Indiana’s (CSI) that ran concurrent with Indiana Canals publication. The Newsletter was initially printed with information about CSI. In the mid 990s Newsletter took on a new format and absorbed Indiana Canals into this one publication which became the primary publication of the Canal Society of Indiana until 2002.
(1989 – 2002)
Indiana Canals began being published in 1986 and was a companion publication of the Canal Society of Indiana’s (CSI) that ran concurrent with Newsletter publication. Indiana Canals was initially printed with information about the how the canals function, mechanical features of old and what was still remaining. In the mid 990s Indiana Canals publication was absorbed into the Newsletter which became the prime publication of the Canal Society of Indiana.
Volume V (1993/94)
- Canal Excitement
- The Evansville Guards in the Clay County Reservoir War
- Blue Hole – Eel River Summit Deep Cut (Photograph)
- Splunge Creek Flood Control Structure (Photograph)