On a chilly winter afternoon, I explored the remnants of the Cincinnati & Whitewater Canal near Cleves, Ohio, with transportation historian Jeffrey Jakucyk. The visit also included stops at other bridges in the region.
In the early 19th century, as in much of the United States, travel in Indiana was primarily by foot, horseback, wagon, or water. Poor road conditions made waterways the preferred route whenever available.
Interest in improving water transportation in Indiana emerged as early as 1805, when the territorial legislature chartered a company to build a canal around the Ohio River falls near Jeffersonville. However, no canal was constructed in Indiana. Instead, Kentucky later built one on its side of the falls.
The success of New York’s Erie Canal (1817–1825) sparked a nationwide canal boom. In 1836, Indiana’s General Assembly passed the “Internal Improvements Act,” authorizing eight major infrastructure projects, including roads, canals, and railroads. Among them was the Whitewater Canal. However, the ambitious program soon proved financially unsustainable. By 1839, construction had stalled, and by 1841, Indiana had defaulted on its debt. Historian Paul Fatout described the program as “conceived in madness and nourished by delusion.”
The financial crisis had lasting consequences. Indiana’s 1851 Constitution prohibited the state from incurring debt, a direct response to its failed internal improvements program. Though canals were costly and often required government support—such as congressional land grants—the idea of public investment in infrastructure persisted, later influencing projects like the interstate highway system.
Only 76 miles of the Whitewater Canal were completed, running from Lawrenceburg to Hagerstown. Intended to connect the Whitewater Valley to the Ohio River, it aimed to provide farmers with a more efficient route to transport goods to Cincinnati. Construction began in September 1836, following an 1834 survey by Charles Hutchens. The canal’s design required 56 locks and seven dams to navigate the steep terrain, making it vulnerable to flooding. It was not completed to Cambridge City until 1842.
A connecting canal, the Cincinnati & Whitewater Canal, was later built to link Harrison to Cincinnati. However, both canals faced numerous challenges, including a major flood in November 1847, ultimately leading to the Cincinnati section’s closure in 1862. The White Water Valley Canal Company sold its land holdings to the Indianapolis & Cincinnati Railroad that same year, and canal operations ceased entirely in 1865. Some sections of the former towpath became the roadbed for the White Water Railroad Company, while others continued to provide water for mills and electricity generation.
Much of the Cincinnati & Whitewater Canal’s right-of-way was later redeveloped into a railroad, with the canal bed filled in. Its original alignment remains visible in aerial imagery, showing how the canal once wound through the farmlands and communities it served.
Near Cleves is the canal’s only tunnel. Measuring 1,500 feet long and 22 feet high, it was designed to accommodate a towpath—an uncommon feature for canal tunnels at the time. A portion of the tunnel collapsed in the 1950s during the construction of US Route 50.
Remnants of former aqueducts can still be seen over several waterways, including bridges over the Great Miami River and Dry Fork Creek. Though only the substructures remain, traces of truss or arch supports are visible where they were once anchored into the abutments or piers.
Spending the day exploring the remnants of the Cincinnati & Whitewater Canal offered a glimpse into a once-ambitious transportation network that shaped the region’s development. Though largely forgotten, the surviving structures—faint traces in the landscape, a collapsed tunnel, and the remains of aqueducts—serve as reminders of an era when canals promised economic progress but ultimately gave way to railroads.
On a side note, the trip did include a visit to the restored Guilford Covered Bridge. The Burr arch truss structure in Guilford, Indiana, was built in 1879 by Archibald M. Kennedy & Sons and originally spanned East Fork Tanners Creek. In 1960, with plans for a new steel bridge, local citizens successfully campaigned to relocate the covered bridge near State Route 1. In 1993, an arson fire damaged the structure, prompting a $175,000 restoration effort funded through insurance, grants, and donations. The project, completed in August 1997, included salvaging original materials and installing a sprinkler system to prevent future fires.
It also included a stop at the restored Stonelick Covered Bridge, a Howe through truss bridge in Clermont County, Ohio, which was built in 1878 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. Over the years, it suffered structural damage from overweight vehicles, fire, and accidents, leading to its closure in 2010. A $1.2 million restoration effort, led by Smolen Engineering and The Righter Company, began in 2013 but faced setbacks when the upper shell collapsed during repairs in 2014. Despite this, the project continued, salvaging over 57% of the original timber. The restored bridge, repainted in its original barn red, reopened on April 15, 2015.
Near the Stonelick Covered Bridge is the abandoned Stonelick Williams Corner Road Bridge, a pin-connected Camelback Pratt through truss built in 1904 by the Champion Bridge Company, originally spanned Stonelick Creek in Clermont County, Ohio. Relocated in 1950 to replace a covered bridge near St. Philomena Church, it was rehabilitated in 1982. In 2002, the bridge was bypassed by a new $1.4 million concrete beam bridge.
The trip also included a stop at a series of bridges over the Great Miami River in Cleves, Ohio.
The Cleves Railroad Bridge, a four-span Warren through truss, carries the Central Railroad of Indiana over the Great Miami River in Cleves, Ohio. Originally built by the Cincinnati & Indiana Railroad using the Whitewater & Cincinnati Canal’s infrastructure, it was later incorporated into the Big Four Railroad, which became part of the New York Central in 1906. The bridge was destroyed in the 1913 flood and rebuilt in 1914 at a cost of $300,000. After multiple railroad mergers, the Indiana & Ohio Railway took over freight operations in 1979, now part of its CIND Subdivision.
Adjacent is an unassuming steel girder structure that replaced a four-span through truss crossing from 1914. Efforts to establish a reliable wagon crossing over the Great Miami near Cleves began in the early 19th century, with a ferry service operating by 1834. A wooden truss toll bridge, built by the Cleves Bridge Company, was later acquired by Hamilton County in 1870 but was destroyed in the 1883 flood and rebuilt in a more stable location. The 1913 flood washed out this bridge, prompting the construction of a four-span Parker and Pennsylvania through truss bridge, completed in 1914. It initially accommodated interurban rail traffic, later modified for vehicles. In 1960, a westbound bridge for U.S. Route 50 was constructed, retaining the 1914 bridge for eastbound traffic. Severe structural deterioration led to its closure in 1989, and after public advocacy, a replacement steel girder bridge was completed on October 31, 1992.
The day’s journey through the remnants of the Cincinnati & Whitewater Canal and historic bridges of Ohio and Indiana offered a deeper appreciation for the region’s evolving transportation infrastructure. From canals to railroads to modern highways, each structure told a story of ambition, adaptation, and resilience. Though many original features have been lost to time, the surviving elements—whether a restored covered bridge, the remains of an aqueduct, or an abandoned truss—stand as enduring markers of the past, reminding us of the ever-changing nature of travel and commerce in the Midwest.
Excellent report.
Thank you Denny!