Posted on October 7th, 2025

Ohio is known for being round on the ends and high in the middle, but is not as well remembered for the role water has played in its and the country’s history. 

Lake Erie (nicknamed by current-day Ohioans as “the north shore”) was the backdrop for the Battle of Lake Erie, a decisive American naval victory on September 10, 1813 during the War of 1812. U.S. forces, under Commander Oliver Hazard Perry, used superior firepower and tactical maneuvering to force the British surrender. Commander Perry became a national hero and his battle slogan, “Don’t Give Up the Ship,” became a rallying cry for the U.S. Navy. 

A few years later in 1817, the first step toward uniting a county divided by geography began with the construction of the Erie Canal. It opened in 1825 linking New York’s Hudson River with Lake Erie at Buffalo, New York. By 1825, plans to link Lake Erie with the Ohio River were underway. The canal provided an economic boon to Ohio which was superseded only by the expansion of the railroad. The Great Flood of 1913 wiped any remaining operations along the canal system. 

Many residual educational and recreational benefits of the canal system remain to this day. In Northeast Ohio, bicycle trails follow the former route of the Ohio & Erie Canal from north to south through Cuyahoga, Summit, Stark, and Tuscarawas counties. Man-made feeder lakes throughout the state remain in use for recreational purposes. Buckeye Lake, near Newark, is Ohio’s oldest state park and is a beloved day-use destination. Today, the park’s largest draw is the 3100-acre lake which provides wonderful boating and fishing opportunities. Indian Lake and Grand Lake St. Mary’s are other examples.

In Coshocton, the historic Roscoe Village is a restored canal town that offers rides on a horse-drawn canal boat on a section of the Ohio & Erie Canal. Other remains of the canal throughout Ohio are the names of towns such as Canal Fulton, Canal Winchester, Lockbourne, Lockville, and Groveport. There are many groups devoted to the history, preservations, and tourism of canal sites. 

About 250 miles southwest of Cleveland lies Cincinnati on the Ohio River. Cincinnati earned the nickname "Queen City of the West" because it was the largest, most prosperous, and fastest-growing city in the western U.S. during the 19th century. The name became popular after the 1854 poem "Catawba Wine" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, which referred to Cincinnati as the "Queen of the West". 

Cincinnati became a major shipbuilding and shipping metropolis in the era of the paddle wheeler, or steamboat, which began in 1811. Other Ohio cities that flourished during this period were Marietta (the first settlement in the Northwest Territory), East Liverpool, and Portsmouth. In 1993, a series of murals were begun to beautify the city’s floodwall. Today, there are more than 55 murals that depict the 2000-year history of the Ohio River Valley. 

Next Time: Ohio and the Underground Railroad