In the 1840s, Ohio grew to become the third most prosperous state, thanks in part to the Ohio & Erie canal. But by the dawn of the Civil War it was losing business to railroads that could deliver goods cheaper and faster. It fell into disrepair, and by 1858 only tri-weekly packet lines were making their way up this canal to Columbus.
After some feeble attempts to revive these canals, they were abandoned. So cities like Akron, Dayton, Cincinnati, Toledo, and Cleveland do have prominent canal remnants - they're just finished-then-derelict rather than never-finished!
Cincinnati's Central Parkway and Dayton's Patterson Boulevard literally pave over filled-in canal beds. 😿
But here is a nice picture of the canal remnant in downtown Akron. It's called the Towpath Trail:
https://www.downtownakron.com/go/towpath-trail
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