Hocking Canal Lock 26 - Waterway Locks, Planes and Lifts on Waymarking.com

The Hocking Canal, built between 1829 and 1842, moved agricultural products and other goods along its 56 mile route to Carroll, Ohio, where it joined the Ohio-Erie Canal. The canal had 26 locks, seven culverts, and one aqueduct crossing Monday Creek south of Nelsonville.

Lock 26 was the southern-most lock on the canal. Boats traveling downstream would emerge from the lock into a slack-water (dammed) portion of the Hocking River near mile 54 of the canal before traveling the last two miles to the terminus in Athens.

The canal was plagued by flooding from the Hocking River. Flood damage in 1873 permanently closed the Athens to Chauncey section. The canal remained active for some years upstream from Chauncey.

This lock lies in a water-well field for the City of Athens, not far from the Hockhocking Adena bikeway. Parking is available on Currier Street in Athens. From there, it's about a 1/2 mile walk along the river to the lock.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sources:

Meyer, David, "Fifty-Six Miles Into the Hills The Story of the Lancaster Lateral & Hocking Canals", Fairfield Heritage Association, Lancaster, Ohio, 2002.

Wicks, Catherine, "The Hocking Canal Mapped: A Physical Inventory of a Disappearing Historic Transporataion [sic] Relic", Master's Thesis, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio, 2002.

Waterway Name: Hocking Canal Connected Points: Linked Athens, Ohio to Carroll,Ohio Type: Lock Date Opened: 10/18/1843 Date Closed (if applicable): 04/01/1873 Elevation Difference (meters): 5.00 Site Status: Remnants Web Site: [Web Link]

Visit Instructions:
Logs marked as “visits” should be made after physically visiting the waymark location. Include a picture taken during the visit. Notes may be logged by individuals who have visited the web site or looked at the online information and would like to provide comments or feedback on the waymark.

Recent Visits/Logs:

There are no logs for this waymark yet.