In Search Of The Hocking Canal

In 2021 we were asked to produce a video about the Hocking Canal that once ran from Carroll, Ohio through southeastern Ohio to Athens, Ohio. At Carroll the Hocking Canal tied into The Ohio and Erie Canal which ran from Lake Erie down to the Ohio River.
On this video we follow the entire course that the Hocking Canal once took and we look at what little remains of the canal today. With cameras on aircraft and drones we overfly the former canal route, and with Historian Tom O'Grady of the Southeast Ohio History Center in Athens, Ohio and Author and Historian David Meyers we take a close up look at what remains of this once great and important transportation route that, as a part of the Ohio Canal System, was truly the super highway of it's day. DVD's of this video are available from the Hocking County Historical Society in Logan, Ohio. Purchase information is at the end of the video. Proceeds from the DVD's help to support the Hocking County Historical Society and the Hocking Hills Tourism Association, both non profit organizations. Come along with us

[@rexphiles]

Very nice! Lock 11 near Rockbridge was the scene of a boating accident where a boat loaded with barrels of flour struck the wall of the lock and sank. The owner of the boat and cargo thought he had lost his entire investment. My great-great-grandfather Henry Troxel believed that the water would penetrate the cracks in the barrels and create a paste that would seal the barrels, thus saving the largest portion of the flour. Troxel offered $300.99 for the boat and cargo. He begun work on raising the boat and cargo, and cleaned the flour that was still good. He then shipped it to Cleveland and sold it for $3000. From that he bought a nearby prosperous farm in Millville now Rockbridge. The Buckeye-Troxel Road is named after his family.

[@talesofsoutheasternohio6207]

Thanks for watching and commenting!! So many stories are connected with the canal.

[@Clint-zs4rq]

@rexphiles, I wonder if this incident with the flour you tell of is the inspiration for Louis Lamour's fictional account of the same thing. In his story Reilly's Luck, Louis Lamour has his protagonist Val, do just what you describe. In St. Louis I think. Val helps a boat Captain recover some flour that had sunk on a barge in the Mississippi river. Same story, the water only affects the flour on the outside. The flour inside is still good.

[@donolbers]

The Athens basin was where Rosenberg's Parking Lot once was, just west of the old south bridge over Richland Ave. The Armitage Lock looks much cleaner than when we "discovered" it in the spring flooding of 1973, when my friend, Bob Daft followed the water running through the well field and into it. Our first thought was that it was an old river channel. Good memtion of the salvaging of the stone blocks, some of those make up the foundation of the Athens City Hall. Last, my great-great grandfather, William Daniel Smart, left his home at the old swinging bridge over Sunday Creek, near Morristown, and followed the canal into Athens to join the Union Army at Camp Wool in 1862, aged 15, and his father in law, Thomas Montgomery was a stonemason who cut stone for the canal. We were fascinated with the Hocking Canal as youths, thank you all for this documentary.

[@talesofsoutheasternohio6207]

We appreciate your comments! We do the videos that we do because we enjoy digging a bit through our history, thanks for watching!!!

[@meinhartstock]

I've watched over a dozen videos on the Ohio & Erie canal and this this the best one I've seen. Thanks for making it.

[@thesoundchekguy]

This was a really good documentary. The music choices also help with the feeling of it. "Cripple Creek," "My Grandfather's Clock," "Morgan's Raiders," etc.

[@OwenFromOhio]

I very much enjoyed this video. Raised in Zanesville, Ohio, I greatly appreciate the Muskingum River Lock System that still operates today.

[@teresaklaiber8616]

This was amazing my 3rd gg John Cunningham Turner was a miller at Baltimore (Oh) and from 1850 - 1853 he owned a canal boat called the Rochester which was sold in Athens. He moved to CA having one of the earliest mills in LA called Eagle Mill after leaving Fairfield County.

[@mattbaker651]

Really nicely produced. Growing up in Bremen it's neat to see all the history in this area.

[@talesofsoutheasternohio6207]

Thanks for watching!

[@speaklifegardenhomesteadpe8783]

We need to bring it back!

[@michelledavis5863]

What about the locke behind the old feed mill in sugar Grove? Great history lesson.

[@mralmnthwyfemnin5783]

Thank you very much for making this documentary. Much appreciated !

[@talesofsoutheasternohio6207]

Thabks for watching!

[@MrTanbou1]

This is awesome. Thanks so much for putting this together!!

[@talesofsoutheasternohio6207]

Thanks Chris, hope you are well.

[@trackandtrail6874]

Excellent work gentlemen!

[@talesofsoutheasternohio6207]

Thank you so much!

[@user-gp4ws4co9m]

Nice !!!

[@chuckg6039]

Outstanding video. I'm a canal adventurer.

[@talesofsoutheasternohio6207]

Thank you!

[@ervinslens]

Spectacular presentation my friend 🔥🔥

[@talesofsoutheasternohio6207]

Thank you!

[@user-yq6xj1xo2b]

great vid but kuddos to OHIO FOR LETTING HISTORIC THINGS DECAY TO TIME GOOD JOB

[@user-ub9tp8wy4x]

Nice Doc. Question. Why do the locks look so narrow and small. It doesn’t look like a barge would come close to fitting?The last one in the video looks like it would work. But the one the guy with the blue shirt is leaning on seems miniature. Jim.

[@talesofsoutheasternohio6207]

As historian Tom O'Grady describes early in the video, there were set minimum dimensions but there were some that for some reason were built larger. The numbers escape me at the moment but they are mentioned early in the video. Thanks for watching! We appreciate your comment and question.

[@cliff8680]

I think maybe we should do like England and re water the canals. I grew up in valley view ohio in a old canal stop house. Just across the street from the erie and Cuyahoga river.

[@talesofsoutheasternohio6207]

We have heard that comment from several people. Interesting thought , thanks for watching!

[@WilliamMurphy-tj7il]

WHY? Millions yearly to dredge out filthy stagnant ditches used as trash dumps and pest areas. They are past use or need, just like bankrupt railroads or unneeded highways

[@allenschmitz9644]

By 'cracky' the woman folk used baskets to dig their share of this dream and men folk cheered them on for miles.

[@jimmyjackass1805]

To bad they did not take care of it the way NY kept up the Erie Canal.

[@WilliamMurphy-tj7il]

To what purpose? A stagnant filthy open sewer that outlived it's usefulness?

[@jamesburns8247]

way too much squeaky music