Skip to main content

Wabash And Erie Canal Park

Wabash And Erie Canal Park

In Indiana, the Canal was built mostly by Irish immigrants using shovels, picks, wheelbarrows, and the horse-drawn slip-scoop. By 1837, there were 1000 laborers employed on the state's canal system. During the harvest season in the mid 19th century, the canal was an ideal means of transportation for extra crops and livestock. Good roads were non-existent, as much of Indiana was still a wilderness with well-established towns mostly on the Ohio and along the Wabash and Whitewater Rivers.

We hope you enjoy our work.

Please support this magazine of trusted historical writing, now in its 75th year, and the volunteers that sustain it with a donation to American Heritage.

Donate