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Whitewater Canal
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click to Take a Virtual Tour of the Whitewater Canal!
The Whitewater Canal in Franklin County
During the period of time after the removal of the Native Americans, and before the Civil War, (approximately 1840-1860) Indiana Canals served as the “interstate” system of the times. The Whitewater Canal was a branch canal tying the Whitewater Valley to the Ohio River. Canal boats moved both passengers and freight. The primary exports from the valley at the time where agricultural products, while canal boats returning from Cincinnati into the valley carried inventory and supplies for local merchants and businesses within the growing communities. Shipping by boat was preferable to shipping by wagon because the canal boat could carry larger loads and heavier items and at a competitive price. Travelers on the canal boat where offered meals and overnight accommodations, allowing them to arrive in the morning in the city, ready to conduct their business. The smooth and scenic ride made canal travel more comfortable and clean than the stagecoach ride over the rough and dusty roads of the time.
As steel and rails became more available, and advancements in steam locomotive technology were made, the canal companies began to envision a railroad future. Repeated flooding of the valley and washout of canal structures required constant maintenance. Railroad companies allowed sections of the canal to fall into disrepair and began replacing sections of towpath with rail. Portions of the canal remained in use for many years after the transition to railroad for use in supplying hydraulic power for running local mills and industry. Communities along the canal benefited from their shipping proximity and continued to do so into the railroad era. Although the rails brought speed and dependability, citizens living along the canal experienced the noise, soot and smell of progress imposing on their once tranquil setting along the waterway. Many of the larger businesses along the canal route owned their own boats and this operation employed local people. With the coming of the railroad, no longer could local businesses own their own boat and hire a local crew. Times changed again, and trains where replaced with shipping and travel on the interstate highway system.
In part because the Whitewater
Canal did not lie within the path of the new interstate highways, it was spared
from complete destruction. The state of Indiana assumed management of a 14-mile section of the canal in 1946
and began its restoration. It was eventually to become the Whitewater Canal
State Historic Site. This section is unique in that it operates very much like
the original canal, using many of the original features. Water is provided for
the canal from the Whitewater River at the Laurel Feeder Dam, via a channel
(called a feeder) from the small reservoir behind the dam. The amount of water
is controlled by a regulator at the point of entry into the canal. The canal
flows from this point through farm and floodplain, providing wildlife habitat
until it reaches the gristmill in Metamora. Here it powers a waterwheel that
provides the power to turn the grindstones that grind fresh cornmeal. The excess
tumbles over the spillway and the canal continues on through the village and
into the Duck Creek Aqueduct, a covered aqueduct that carries the canal 16 feet over Duck Creek.
Visitors to the Whitewater Canal State Historic Site can see the mill in
operation, ride a horse drawn canal boat, and view the aqueduct and working
locks below the village.
Take a
Virtual Tour
of the Whitewater Canal
Additional information on Indiana canals can be
found at these links:
Canal
Mania in Indiana
Canal Society
of Indiana
