Saturday, January 24, 2026

Ohio & Erie Canal Locks #48 and #49 near Rushtown, OH

Lock #48: (Satellite)
Lock 48 Label: (Satellite, I include this location error because of the photos on Google Maps.)
Lock #49: (Satellite)

Ohio & Erie Canal Overview

Rose Anable posted three photos with the comment: "There is part of the Ohio & Erie Canal system just north of Portsmouth in Rushtown. Lock #48.  You can see where the canal system went southward . The lock is to the right ."
Dennis DeBruler: Found it: https://maps.app.goo.gl/E4wdrkgoCHQxHDVZ8. I noticed that Lock #49 is in Rushtown, https://maps.app.goo.gl/g7mYXpbEduw6e2Bp9.
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When I looked for a satellite image on Google Earth that had fewer leaves on the trees, I discovered that at least the trees were removed from around the locks between Oct 2006 and Aug 2009. It is good that someone is uncovering the history of the O&E Canal.

The 1913 abandonment of the canal was recent enough that it is still marked as an abandoned canal on this 1915 map. I recognize 1913 as the year of a bad flood that cause most of the Ohio canals to be abandoned. The railroad was the Norfolk & Western.
1915/58 Otway Quad @ 62,500

lynn thomas, Apr 2025

This is the first lock I found because it is in Rushtown.
Satellite

But when I found this map, I learned that that lock was Lock #49.
OhioDNR, file OE&192-73

I got file 193-73 next. But I discovered that the Scioto County files are numbered from north to south (but listed south to north), so I got file 191-73 to find Lock #48. I think the "county road" in the lower-right corner is today's McDermott Pond Creek Road (OH-46).
OhioDNR, file OE&191-73

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