Renovation of the Ohio Canal towpath began in earnest in 1996 (year), after Congress named it one of the country’s first National Heritage Areas.   The Ohio Canalway, as it’s known, includes a spine of roads, canals, rivers and railroads from historic Schoenbrunn village in Tuscarawas County to Cleveland’s lakefront. Tim Donovan of the Ohio and Erie Canalway says it applied to the National Park Service and won designation in 2000 as an “America Byway.”    

“ It’s a new kind of park.  In our case,  it’s a case it’s a mix of both natural areas, cultural areas,  historic resources,  scenic resources, archeological sites.   In our case, its theme and its framework comes from the construction of the Ohio and Erie Canal yet recognizes the next iterative form of transportation – the railroad as represented by the scenic railroad.”

The many partners along the 110-mile canalway collected the 20 sites along the route that are featured in Rand McNally/USA Today’s “Best of the Road “ series.  Those range from the National First Ladies Library to a tour through the industrial flats of Cleveland.  Donovan says there’s an interpretive storyline of transportation and industrial history along the Canalway .   The route is marked today with more than 300 blue and orange signs.