The river itself carried the first travelers upstream to the short portage to the Mississippi watershed and the West. In the early 1800s, the Wabash and Erie Canal was started to provide a more reliable and even passage. Many came to work on it and settled, hacking out farmsteads from the dense, swampy forest. A canal lock nearby made a natural stopping and shipping point. In 1856, the Wabash Railroad superceded the canal with rapid all-weather transport and comm... Read More
The river itself carried the first travelers upstream to the short portage to the Mississippi watershed and the West. In the early 1800s, the Wabash and Erie Canal was started to provide a more reliable and even passage. Many came to work on it and settled, hacking out farmsteads from the dense, swampy forest. A canal lock nearby made a natural stopping and shipping point. In 1856, the Wabash Railroad superceded the canal with rapid all-weather transport and comm... Read More