Canal Fever: The Ohio & Erie Canal, from Waterway to Canalway

ch14. Saving the “Little Silver Ribbon”

Chapter 14 Saving the “Little Silver Ribbon” bob฀downing฀and฀russ฀musarra For a generation or two after the devastating floods of 1913, conversations about the Ohio & Erie Canal were mostly nostalgic. People who were present when the packets and freighters floated along the waterway reminisced among themselves and to those who came along later about how great things used to be. Following in their footsteps were the individuals who began the preservation movement, the precursor to the drive to create the Ohio & Erie Canalway. The second half of the twentieth century inspired these preservation pioneers to think beyond nostalgia; they began calling for a rebirth of activity along the towpath. They called for saving stories of the canal, canal-era buildings, photographs, and records , as well as the canal and towpath. Foremost among these preservationists in the 1960s were Edward and Frances Montgomery of Coshocton’s Roscoe Village; Ted H. Findley of New Philadelphia; Clyde E. Gainey of Canal Fulton; journalist Al Simpson of Canton; U.S. Congressman Ralph Regula of Navarre; and Lily Fleder and Robert L. Hunker of Peninsula. Jack E. Gieck of Akron preserved photographs of the canal era throughout the state. There were others, of course, but the eVorts of these individuals were symbolic of the grassroots movement that stimulated interest in the Canalway many take for granted today. The impetus for beginning preservation eVorts diVered in each location , but all led to saving a piece of the past. In Coshocton a painting of three canal boats in the 1850s along the Ohio & Erie Canal in booming Roscoe Village led to canal preservation. Zoar Village in northern ฀ 253 254฀ bob฀downing฀&฀russ฀musarra Tuscarawas County was saved largely because of the influence of the Ohio Historical Society and the Zoar Community Association, and the significance of the German Separatist communal society that had lived there. In Canal Fulton in northern Stark County, the Canal Fulton Heritage Society spearheaded the grassroots eVort to take advantage of the canal. In Summit County, the Village of Peninsula sparked a new interest in its history in the 1960s when it became involved in saving the historic Bronson church. Grassroots support for the community’s past grew. Certainly other communities along the Ohio & Erie Canal tout their canal ties, but these four stand out as communities that recognized the importance and possibilities surrounding their local histories and worked to develop them to attract and educate visitors and to oVer something special to residents. The history of Roscoe is similar to those of other canal towns, once bustling economic centers, flourishing in the 1830s and then languishing after the railroads shifted population and industry away from the canal. Roscoe, located where the Tuscarawas and Walhonding Rivers form the Muskingum River, was started in 1816 when James Calder moved across the river from Coshocton, built some log cabins, and started the new Village of Caldersburg. The canal came through from 1827 to 1830 and was built between the two towns. That benefited Caldersburg with its 81 inhabitants more than it did Coshocton, population 333. The canal boat Monticello was the first to arrive, on August 21, 1830. Industries blossomed along the canal at what became Roscoe in 1831. This included saw- and flour mills, canal-boat manufacturers, and barrel makers. Roscoe became the fourth-largest wheat-shipping port along the canal from Cleveland to Portsmouth. And by 1841, the boomtown had sixty dwellings, five or six stores, two apothecaries, a boatyard, an iron foundry, and mechanics’ shops. The town had four hundred residents plus seasonal employees. But all that changed in 1866, when the Steubenville & Indiana Rail Road was built between Coshocton and the Ohio River and the canal became less of a transportation route. After the 1913 flood, it no longer operated; it became the ditch with a path, used by local folks. But in the 1960s it was rediscovered and the area became the historic Roscoe Village, a tourist destination spot. In Coshocton, the canal ran north of Whitewoman Street, where state Route 16 now lies. In 1960 the Coshocton National Bank commissioned New York artist Dean Cornwell to paint a scene to mark the county’s 1961 sesquicentennial.Hepaintedthecanal,muchtothesurpriseof community leaders. Cornwell’s work, on specially woven fabric, was twenty-four feet saving฀the฀"little฀silver฀ribbon"฀ 255 long and eight feet wide. It was unveiled on May 14, 1961. When people in Coshocton for the ceremonies asked to see...