A. The 27-mile-long Middlesex Canal in Massachusetts. It was in use in 1803 and was one of the first canals built in America.

Hoosiers wanted something similar. With federal financial support, the Indiana General Assembly commissioned the Wabash and Erie Canal in 1828. The full route was planned to connect Toledo on Lake ...

Hoosiers went wild for canals in the 1830s. At the time, the state had little transportation infrastructure, making travel and shipping difficult between Indiana’s scattered population centers.