Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - May/June 2020 - 31

photo-Darl Black
photo-Darl Black

from the Shenango Dam, the former canal basin
at Big Bend and its brick-lined eastern river bank
to support the towpath, Shenango River Trail
from Big Bend to the Kidds Mill Bridge, and the
formerly robust canal town of New Hamburg. To
see a full-size replica canal boat, visit The Canal
Museum at Greenville's Riverside Park, adjacent to
Lock #22.
Some of our fishing time on the Erie Extension
Canal is on its Shenango Division with outings
on the Shenango River and Shenango River
Lake. My husband's family owned and operated
canal boats. Their current homestead is beneath
Shenango Reservoir.
We also frequently fish parts of the Conneaut
Division, which includes the two largest reservoirs
of the entire Erie Extension Canal, specifically
a 600-acre man-made lake and Conneaut Lake.
Construction through wetlands, numerous locks,
and several high-level aqueducts in this 46-mile
segment was the most costly and took from 1938
until 1844.
The northernmost canal basin was west of
the
tip of State Street in Erie. Its navigation
Pete Cartwright landed this Smallmouth Bass while wading French
commenced
in spring 1845 and closed after the
Creek adjacent to a collapsed lowhead dam and still-visible lock of the
aqueduct
carrying
the canal across Elk Creek
Franklin Line.
collapsed on September 5, 1871. Conneautville's
Canal Park, Market Village off Route 18, contains
including all of the ones listed above for the rivers, plus
one of the last relatively undisturbed stretches of the Erie
Northern Pike, White Bass, additional sunfish species, and in Extension Canal.
the case of Shenango Reservoir, hybrid Striped Bass.
French Creek Feeder Canal linked the Erie Extension
Canal with Meadville. Its western arm (Conneaut Outlet) is
Access along the canal corridor
challenging today due to many fallen trees and significant
Beaver Division (31 miles) opened in 1834 to traffic
erosion to its towpath. The 22-mile Franklin Line ran from the
from Rochester to New Castle and Pulaski with its Western
juncture with the Feeder Canal to Franklin. Plentiful canoe
Reserve Harbor. If anglers look hard, they may detect stones
and kayak access areas now serve French Creek from Erie
from former locks, towpath topography, and sites of previous County through Venango County, providing convenient access
canal locks and loading bays.
for anglers as well. An almost intact lock is visible along Route
At 61 miles in length, Shenango Division (opened in
322 north of Franklin.
1838) stretched from Pulaski to the Mercer/Crawford county
Explore by foot, by car, and by water the locations you
line, stringing together for commerce the ports of West
can fish today, which once constituted the most vibrant
Middlesex, Wheatland, Sharon, Sharpsville, Clarksville,
transportation route from Erie to the Ohio River. Passenger
Big Bend, New Hamburg, and Greenville. Abundant visible
boats of the Reed Line needed only 36 hours to accomplish its
remnants of the Erie Extension Canal are evident today
full length. Bulk freight boats were mule or oxen-pulled at the
including restored Lock #10 at Sharpsville downstream
rate of 3 miles per daylight hour.

More information

Canal Museum
60 Alan Avenue
Greenville, PA 16125
John Kokoski (724) 588-8718
"The Erie Extension Canal: A Hike With History,"
by Fred J. Brenner, Ph.D.

The only location in Pennsylvania where you can ride on a
mule-drawn canal boat is on the short segment of the Lehigh
Canal, Easton.
www.fishandboat.com

Canal history blogs on Facebook/"Visit Pymatuning
Lake Pa" by Gary P. Hite
Pennsylvania Angler & Boater * May/June 2020

http://www.fishandboat.com

Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - May/June 2020

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