Suwanee Canal

The Suwannee Canal (also seen as the Suwanee Canel) was an attempt to drain large portions of the Okefenokee Swamp in Georgia via a canal. The spelling of the Suwannee River has changed over time. The single n variant was more common in the past, but the double n spelling is the standard today. In 1889, the Georgia General Assembly authorized the Governor to sell the land containing the Okefenokee Swamp to the highest bidder. The highest bidder was a group of capitalists and former Confederate officers who offered 26.5 cents per acre for the property. The group was granted a charter as the Suwannee Canal Company in 1890. In January 1891, the new company paid $6,310,180 for 238,120 acres (963.6 km2). The company intended to drain the swamp in order to facilitate logging and eventual crop cultivation. Work on the drainage ditch from the swamp to the St. Marys River began on September 20, 1891. Captain Henry Jackson, the president of the company, and his crews spent three years digging the Suwannee Canal 11.5 miles (18.5 km) into the swamp. Work was slow due to various problems. The sides of the drainage ditch collapsed because of poor engineering design and bad weather. Leased convict labor, large steam shovels, and finally gold miners from north Georgia using large water hoses were unable to dig the ditch deep enough through an area known as Trail Ridge to drain the swamp. In 1

Canal data from Wikidata (CC0). Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).