Nearly two hundred years after canals began connecting whole sections of the United States, there is a renewed interest in those old canals. Some are completely gone, but in parts of the country, tiny segments are being restored  — to remember the days passengers and cargo were moved north and south, east and west, using the large network of narrow, shallow (4 feet deep) waterways. Perhaps the most famous is the Erie Canal — which connected the Hudson River at Albany New York, with Lake Erie at Buffalo. It celebrates 200 years in 2025 — and a major celebration is in the works that’s expected to bring renewed attention to all the canals.

In Delphi, Indiana, we found a whole town that has embraced it’s special piece of canal history. Volunteers have spent years restoring a short section of the Wabash and Erie Canal. Starting in the 1830’s the canal connected Lake Erie — in Toledo, Ohio, with Evansville, Indiana, on the Ohio River. It was actually longer than the Erie Canal.

These canals began to disappear  once railroads arrived. The Wabash & Erie in Delphi closed in 1873. For nearly a hundred years, it just sat there – a ditch with stagnant water. Says volunteer Carl Seese, it was “full of mosquitoes, rats, snakes and mean, nasty, ugly things.”

But a hundred years later, in the 1970’s, leaders of the small town had an idea — to bring a small stretch of canal back to life. After years of fundraising, hard work and clearing the old channel, they have indeed restored this piece of Americana, and created an historic village on the banks of the canal — using historic buildings you would have seen back in the canal days.

And most important, the group built a replica of the one of the old Packet boats that would run along the canal — and take visitors on the water to experience those old canal days.

The Wabash & Erie Canal Park has become a must visit stop for history lovers. As Director Mike Tetrault says “it just so happens that Delphi is a small town with a lot of people who care about the history that’s happened here.” It truly is a small town in the heart of the midwest that is celebrating it’s past in a big way.