Canal Tunnels Traditional Geocache
Backwoods Reviewer: As the owner has not responded to my prior note, I am archiving this listing.
Backwoods Reviewer
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Historic Columbiana County cache, located along U.S. Rt. 30. Terrain is level and safe to pull into grass or use gravel pulloff a short distance away. BUT PLEASE PULL FAR ENOUGH OFF RT. 30!
Southeast of this point are the Big and Little tunnels. They were links in the 73.5 mile Sandy and Beaver Canal which connected the Ohio River, at Glasgow, PA, with the Ohio and Erie Canal, in Bolivar, OH. Shifts of Irish laborers worked night and day with hand drills and blasting powder to cut the 1,060-yard Big Tunnel which was the longest canal tunnel built in the United States.
Construction began in November 1834, but financial problems prevented completion until January 1848. The objective of the canal - to open commerce between the two waterways - unfortunately was never met.
The Middle Division of the canal crosses the summit between Sandy Creek and Beaver Creek. It is dominated by two large reservoirs, West Fork Reservoir (now Guilford Lake), and Cold Run Reservoir which partially collapsed in 1852, ruining a large section of the canal.
Unlike the other canals in the state, the Sandy and Beaver Canal received no state funds; it was financed through the sale of stock. Considered by many canal enthusiasts to be the most scenic canal line in Ohio, the hilly topography created engineering challenges and high costs for the buisness venture. Using watersheds of the Sandy and Little Beaver Creeks, it rose 685 feet, the summit being the location of the tunnels. Its 55 locks averaged 7.5 feet each. Thirty dams along the Sandy and Little Beaver Creeks were required to insure year-round use of the canal.
The canal’s construction brought jobs and skilled crafts to the region, and this former Indian trail became part of the nation’s first intercontinental roadway, the Lincoln Highway, now Rt. 30.
The Big Tunnel coordinates are:
West End N40 45.185 W80 54.699
East End N40 44.794 W80 54.236
Collapsed area N40 45.122 W80 54.626
Additional Hints
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