Jeffersonville Ohio Canal Company

The Indiana Canal Company was a corporation first established in 1805 for the purpose of building a canal around the Falls of the Ohio on the Indiana side of the Ohio River. After several attempts, and possible sabotage by a supporter of the Louisville and Portland Canal, the project was ended.

As the Midwestern United States became populated by American settlers, they began to farm produce down the Ohio River to the Mississippi River and New Orleans to be sold. Along this entire route there was only one obstacle, the Falls of the Ohio, a series of rapids between Clarksville, Indiana, and Louisville, Kentucky. At that location goods had to be unloaded from boats, transported by land to below the falls, and reloaded. This caused a considerable delay for transportation and led to the early growth in the area which responded by creating enterprises to accommodate the needs of moving the goods. The expense caused by the need to transport goods overland for the three mile stretch was considerable and the price incurred by Cincinnati goods alone was estimated to cost over $50,000 annually.

As early as 1790 it was proposed that a canal be built around the falls so that shipping could easily bypass the rapids. Both Indiana and Kentucky competed to be the first to build a canal, knowing whichever side built the canal would receive a large economic boost. Early promoters of the project included Josiah Stephens and Benjamin Hovey, both of whom believed the canal would create a rapid influx of wealth to Indiana.

Indiana began formal plans to build a canal before Kentucky, authorizing the first Indiana Canal Company on August 24, 1805. The charter was considered favorable, fixing tolls between two and five dollars. The company's board members were made up mostly of men from Clarksville and included Aaron Burr, Davis Floyd and George Rogers Clark. The Indiana Territory granted the company $120,000 in starting money, and the enterprise raised more than $1.2 million from private sources.

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