Finally, came two events which were the making of Cleveland. In 1827 the Ohio Canal was opened from Cleveland to Akron and later to the mouth of the Scioto River, which flows into the Ohio at Portsmouth; and in 1828 a channel was cut through the bar at the mouth of the Cuyahoga River. Consider what this meant to Cleveland. The Ohio Canal connected the village with the Ohio River, thus putting Cleveland in touch with the rich coal, iron, oil, and coke lands of western Pennsylvania. Travelers, too, found the canal boats much better to journey on than the old stagecoaches.
A RIVER SCENE
The deepening of the mouth of the Cuyahoga River gave Cleveland a harbor and a place to build the enormous docks which to-day line the river's shore for the last few miles of its length. A few years earlier an effort to protect lake vessels had been made by building a pier out into the lake near the sand bar. The lake soon tore the pier to pieces, however, and the vessels still had to be hauled over the bar to safety. But with the sand bar cut, boats could sail in and out of the river at their pleasure.
Splendid results followed. The population increased, frame houses gradually came to take the place of log cabins, business greatly improved, and in 1836 Cleveland became a city.
AN ORE STEAMER ENTERING CLEVELAND'S HARBOR
The year 1851 saw a great celebration in Cleveland over the opening of the first railroad. This brought added prosperity to the city. Then, too, iron ore began to arrive by water from the Lake Superior mines. At the same time more and more coal was being received. The manufacturers commenced to appreciate the tremendous advantages of living at a natural meeting place of these two great necessities. Cleveland awoke to a new business activity.
