The canal name is because the canal followed the Sandy River Valley on the west side and the Little Beaver River Valley on the east side.
In 1828, the Ohio legislature issued a charter for the construction of the Sandy and Beaver Canal. The Sandy and Beaver Canal would eventually extend 73 miles from the Ohio and Erie Canal in
Bolivar, Ohio, to
Glasgow, Pennsylvania, on the Ohio River. While it is considered by many to be the most scenic canal line in Ohio, the canal's goal — to open commerce between the Ohio and Erie Canal and the Ohio River — was never accomplished.
The Sandy and Beaver Canal was an ambitious project that would require two tunnels, thirty dams, ninety locks, three reservoirs, and an aqueduct before its completion. Unfortunately, the canal never fully met the expectations of its builders and planners. From the beginning, the middle section of the canal experienced numerous problems and ultimately fell into disrepair. The eastern and western portions of the Sandy and Beaver Canal were kept busy by the local industry and agriculture. Still, travel along the entire length of the canal was never possible.
By the time of the canal's completion, the expansion of the railroad made the canal less valuable than when originally conceived. In 1852, the canal ceased operations when a flood caused a breach in the Cold Run Reservoir Dam outside of Lisbon, Ohio, ruining a large portion of the canal.
When a canal closes as early as 1852 because of a flood, it doesn't show up on any topo maps. That makes it harder to research.
It is the "proposed canal 76 mile" canal on this map.
This makes it easier to correlate with today's towns. "L" means lock and "T" means tunnel. The summit is at the two tunnels east of Hanoverton. The locks are numbered from the summit. So, I'm putting a W or E in front of the lock number to indicate which division the lock is in.
Fortunately, this canal is well documented.
West:
East:
Some features along the canal from west to east.
These are in Magnolia, OH.
There may be some ruins of the locks in that tree line.
The canal bed is better preserved south of this road. I included the flood wall and levee on the right side because I'm impressed that they protected the park from the Sandy River.
As with many canal towns, where there were locks, there was a mill.
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OhioAndErieCanalway (Satellite)
[This has a nice history of the canal. It explains why the middle part of the canal was never usable for commercial traffic. Specifically, they could not maintain a sufficient water depth in the tunnels at the summit.] |
Locks W#20 (Satellite, approx.) and W#19 (Satellite, approx.)
#20 is in Malvern, OH, and #19 is a little east of it.
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hmdb (Satellite, marker's location)
"Planned in 1827 as an important trade route between Glasgow on the Ohio River, to the Ohio Canal at Bolivar, passed here. A basin and toll station were located nearby at Lodi, as well as Locks 19 and 20 and a canal dam. This segment of the Western Division was completed in 1845, and saw regular service between Hanover and Bolivar until 1853. The coming of the railroad and recurring floods caused its abandonment."
"The stones supporting this marker are from Lock 19" |
A couple of blocks of the canal bed has been preserved near the marker. It looks like they also have a military vehicle in the park.
Even though the marker uses Lock W#19 stones, the marker is much closer to Lock W#20.
The Big Tunnel was between the Sandy River and Williard Run watersheds while the Little Tunnel was between the Williard Run and Little Beaver Creek watersheds. Google Maps doesn't know about this Dungannon, OH, but this topo map does show it. And we can see the road east of Hanoverton that was later chosen to be part of the
Lincoln Highway (US-30).
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| 1905 Salineville and 1909 Lesbon Quads @ 62,500 |
Big Tunnel
Little Tunnel
I think Dennis' map marked the tunnel too far to the East.
Marm Farm
posted eight photos with the comment:
Lusk Lock on the Sandy and Beaver Canal - Columbiana County, Ohio.
Built in 1836, it's known as one of the finest canal locks for its time period.
Joseph Middleton: That trail is great of its the one I'm thinking of it has several locks on it and the further you go on the path the better each one gets and I believe that one is the one at the end. I really like that you can see and pretty much picture how the locks actually worked especially with that one having almost all of the pieces still intact. Like I didn't know they had a continuous running water stream next to each lock to help with over flow and general flow of the canal water.
Marm Farm: Joseph Middleton this one is kinda out on its own with no trail connecting to other locks, but you are correct if you go to Beaver Creek State Park there is a trail with 3 or 4 locks in a row each about a half mile or mile apart. This particular lock is a little ways upstream from those but still part the same canal system which consisted of 90 locks total.
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Assuming that Marm's photos are contemporary (Feb 2026), it appears that someone has done some much needed maintenance in terms of taming mother nature.
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OhioDNR
"Lusk Lock’s double-curved stone staircase makes it arguably the most artistic lock on the canal. At its completion in 1836, some considered it to be the finest lock of its kind in the world....Parking for Lusk Lock is available on Lusk Lock Road just off Middle Beaver Road (CR-419). The lock is accessible via a 0.25-mile trail heading downstream along the Little Beaver Creek." |
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uakron
"One black and white photographic print of two individuals inspecting the bottom of the lock wall on Lock 27, also known as Lusk's Lock, on the Sandy and Beaver Canal in Beaver Creek State Park in East Liverpool in Columbiana County, Ohio. The individuals are dressed in coats and hats and can be seen squatting down at the bottom of the image in the foreground while the lock wall rises above them. Grass and portions of trees can be seen at on the top of the lock wall at the top of the image." |
Looking back in the other direction is a one-lane, pin-connected truss bridge.
On the other side of the lock is the Thomas J. Malone Covered Bridge.
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| bobbie manns, Sep 2021 |
Lock E#39
Sandy and Beaver Canal
posted three photos with the comment:
Lock 39, eastern division. Beaver Creek State Park. This location is steeped in history. Harmony School Rd. once forded Little Beaver Creek here. William Heald constructed one of the area's initial mills, subsequently owned by Joseph Heap. Attentive observers can still discern vestiges of the foundation. Beaver Creek State Park
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