Cincinnati and Whitewater Canal Tunnel

The Cincinnati and Whitewater Canal Tunnel is a historic abandoned canal tunnel in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Ohio. Located within the village of Cleves near Cincinnati, it was constructed in 1837 as part of the Whitewater Canal system. Since the canal's closure, it has largely been forgotten, but it has been designated a historic site. After Indiana began building the Whitewater Canal in the 1830s, Ohio businessmen urged the construction of an extension from the canal to Cincinnati. The resulting Cincinnati and Whitewater Canal was completed in 1843, including a canal tunnel near the village of North Bend, which was finished six years before the canal opened for business. This tunnel was needed because of a steep ridgeline on the village's northern side, separating it from Cleves, on land owned by retired war hero William Henry Harrison, who as one of the canal's proponents was happy to sell land for its right-of-way and to supply wood and bricks for the tunnel. After his ascension to the presidency and sudden death, Harrison was buried atop the ridgeline near the tunnel's southern portal. Lined with brick, the tunnel includes ashlar stonework portals with wing walls. Upon completion, the tunnel was 0.3 miles (0.48 km) long, and there was 22 feet (6.7 m) between the ceiling and the underwater bottom of the canal. Unusually, the tunnel included room for

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