CLEVES — It was Cincinnati's tunnel to the future, but it didn't last long. In about 25 years, the Cincinnati-Whitewater Canal Tunnel began fading slowly into history, just as Ohio's extensive — and expensive — canal system was rendered obsolete by the railroads.

        Yet Ohio's first canal tunnel continues to fascinate historians, who say it is the only canal tunnel in southwestern Ohio that visitors can actually touch.

        “It's a part of our history that's worth preserving,” said Nancy Gulick, a Glendale resident and member of the Canal Society of Ohio. “We don't know if it can be opened up in its entirety, but certainly several hundred feet can be opened someday.”

        But just what is a canal tunnel?

IF YOU GO

The Cincinnati-Whitewater Canal Tunnel is in Cleves, near the historical marker at 405 Main Ave. It was paid for by the Three Rivers Historical Society's Canal Tunnel Preservation Committee and the Ohio Bicentennial Commission.

        “It's a tunnel dug though a hillside when the option — building a series of locks to raise the boats above the hills — wasn't possible, physically or financially,” said Bob Mueller of Reading, an adviser on the Cleves project. “There are only five tunnels left in Ohio, and two of them have collapsed.”

        Mr. Mueller said the Cleves tunnel is filled with so much dirt that “you have to crawl through it on your stomach.”

        The Cincinnati-Whitewater Canal, which connected downtown Cincinnati to eastern Indiana, featured a tunnel that was 1,782 feet long and 24 feet wide at the water line with a center arch of 20 1/2 feet from the bottom of the canal.

        Over the years, Mr. Mueller said, the tunnel has been reduced to about 1,400 feet by road-widening proj ects.

        The tunnel was lined with 2 million bricks.

        “We want to restore it so people can go in and see what construction techniques were like in those days,” Ms. Gulick said.

        A bronze marker, erected in August, commemorates Cleves' little-known place in transportation history. In April, the state awarded a $50,000 grant to help start the proposed Whitewater Canal Tunnel Park and excavate the site.

        “Three Rivers Historical Society has been actively raising money since 1996 to secure and preserve this site,” said Judy Jones, treasurer of the Canal Tunnel Preservation Committee. “We are pursuing tax-exempt status to become eligible for larger grants. This will allow us to restore the canal tunnel and surrounding five acres into a park for everyone's enjoyment.”

        In the fall, students from the University of Cincinnati inspected the tunnel to determine how it could be stabilized and reopened, she said.

        It is sometimes known as the Harrison Tunnel because Gen. William Henry Harrison sold land on his North Bend farm as right-of-way. Harrison, who would become the 9th U.S. president, was an early supporter of the canal.

        Groundbreaking for the tunnel began on March 31, 1836, when the steamer Moselle carried passengers from Cincinnati to North Bend to celebrate the occasion on arrison's farm.

        At the time, canal tunneling was rarely tried in the United States. But engineer Darius Lapham, director of the entire Cincinnati-Whitewater Canal, took up the challenge.

        The canal was incorporated in April 1837, and served the region for a quarter-century, from about 1843-1865, taking Cincinnati goods into Indiana.

        Eventually, the railroads took over and the canal declined.

        “Now, people all over the country want to preserve canals,” Ms. Gulick said. “There aren't many of them left. We have to keep them alive.”

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