Hebron Canal Basin

Ground breaking ceremonies for construction of the Ohio-Erie Canal started July 4, 1825, just four miles north of Hebron. The first section ran south through the village of Hebron to the Licking Summit Reservoir, now Buckeye Lake. The Canal was completed through Hebron in 1828. Inside the village, north of Main Street and Route 40, was a large canal basin where the present fire department now sits. This wide section made it possible to turn a canal boat around and also provided a storage area for boats in the winter when the water was frozen. On the banks of this area, a number of businesses sprang up including two, five-story warehouses. There were beautiful stone walls which dammed up the canal on the South side of the National Road (Route 40). The water flowed in a northerly direction to this wall then dropped into a four foot square wooden trough and flowed under Route 40 through a cement culvert. It supplied all of the water for the Hebron Power House.

Image 1: Taken in 1902 from the Power House ramp, the National Road and Canal crossed close to the center of Hebron, giving it the nickname "Crossroads of Ohio.”

Image 2: Picture of canal and buildings. In 1828, the canal path was cut through Hebron. The Toledo & Ohio railroad came to Hebron in the late nineteenth century and the canal, no longer needed, closed in 1913.

Image 3: The center of the interurban railroad bridge was mounted on heavy gears. To permit a canal boat to pass, the bridge was rotated parallel with the canal which gave enough room for the canal boat to pass through.