Project Background

1.1 PROJECT BACKGROUND

This project is the result of an extraordinarily successful multi-year collaboration of communities in six South Central Ohio counties to recognize, document, preserve, and celebrate their canal heritage. Many partners in this effort had done so individually for many years, but their unified effort began in 2019 with creation of the Ohio & Erie Canal Southern Descent Historic District. Listed in the National Register of Historic Places, the district includes fourteen canal features in Baltimore (Fairfield County), Groveport and Lockbourne (Franklin County), Circleville (Pickaway County), and Rushtown and West Portsmouth (Scioto County). The successful listing effort, a collaboration of many partners, was recognized with an award from the Ohio Historic Preservation Office in October, 2019. The enthusiasm generated by working together and by recognition from the Ohio preservation community has led the participants (park districts, public officials, tourism officials, and local historians) to ask “Where do we go from here”?

The answer was to create a Heritage Trail to link the communities in telling the broader story of how the Ohio & Erie Canal benefited the state of Ohio and the communities through which it passed, and to encourage economic development through authentic heritage tourism activities in communities along the trail. Sponsored by the Scenic Scioto Heritage Trail Inc., the partner communities were successful in obtaining funding from Ohio Humanities and the Canal Society of Ohio to embark on creation of the Heritage Trail. This plan documents the process for developing the brand identity; provides design and content guidance for interpretive signage; offers advice on how individual sites can be developed for residents and visitors; and recommends future collaborative efforts for further development of the trail. In addition, the Heritage Trail has been introduced on the SeeOhioFirst.org website, maintained by Ohio Humanities, and includes 25 separate entries to guide visitors from Buckeye Lake to the Ohio River.