List of canals in the United States facts for kids
The following is a list of canals in the United States:
Contents
Transportation canals in operation
This list includes active canals and artificial waterways that are maintained for use by boats. Although some abandoned canals and drainage canals have stretches that can be paddled in a small craft, such as a canoe, they are not included in this list.
The United States also built the Panama Canal on territory it controlled.
Abandoned transportation canals
| Name | State | Opened | Closed | Length | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alexandria Canal | VA | 1843 | 1886 | 7 mi (11 km) | |
| Bald Eagle and Spring Creek Navigation | PA | 1837 | 1865 | ||
| Bank's Canal | VA | ||||
| Beardstown and Sangamon Canal | IL | ||||
| Beaver and Erie Canal | PA | 1844 | 1872 | 136 mi (219 km) | Part of the Pennsylvania Canal |
| Bellows Falls Canal | VT | 1802 | 1858 | ||
| Black River Canal | NY | 1855 | 1925 | 35 mi (56 km) | |
| Blackstone Canal | RI | 1828 | 1848 | 45 mi (72 km) | |
| MA | |||||
| Brunswick–Altamaha Canal | GA | 1854 | 1860 | 12 mi (19 km) | |
| Cascade Locks and Canal | OR | 1896 | 1938 | ||
| WA | |||||
| Celilo Canal | OR | 1915 | 1957 | ||
| WA | |||||
| Chemung Canal | NY | 1833 | 1878 | ||
| Chenango Canal | NY | 1836 | 1878 | 97 mi (156 km) | |
| Chesapeake and Ohio Canal | MD | 1830 | 1924 | 184.5 mi (296.9 km) | |
| DC | |||||
| Clinton–Kalamazoo Canal | MI | 1843 | 13 mi (21 km) | Partially completed | |
| Codorus Navigation | PA | 1832 | 1850 | 11 mi (18 km) | |
| Colbert Shoals Canal | AL | Flooded by Pickwick Lake | |||
| Columbia Canal | SC | 1824 | Now used for hydroelectic power | ||
| Conestoga Navigation | PA | 1826 | 18 mi (29 km) | ||
| Conewago Canal | PA | 1797 | 1 mi (1.6 km) | ||
| Cross Florida Barge Canal | FL | 30 mi (48 km) | Partially completed | ||
| Culpeper Gold Mine Canal | VA | ||||
| Cumberland and Oxford Canal | ME | 1832 | 1873 | 38 mi (61 km) | Songo Lock remains open |
| Deep Run Canal | VA | ||||
| Delaware and Hudson Canal | PA | 1828 | 1917 | 108 mi (174 km) | |
| NY | |||||
| Delaware and Raritan Canal | NJ | 1834 | 1932 | 66 mi (106 km) | |
| Delaware Canal | PA | 1832 | 1931 | 60 mi (97 km) | Part of the Pennsylvania Canal |
| Des Moines Rapids Canal | IA | ||||
| Enfield Falls Canal | CT | 1829 | 5.25 mi (8.45 km) | ||
| Farmington Canal (New Haven and Northampton Canal) | CT | 1828 | 1847 | 56 mi (90 km) | Continued into Massachusetts as the Hampshire and Hampden Canal |
| Ficklin's Canal | VA | ||||
| Fox–Wisconsin Waterway | WI | Partially restored | |||
| Franklin Line | PA | 1833 | 1837 | 22 mi (35 km) | Part of the Pennsylvania Canal |
| Fredericksburg Canal | VA | ||||
| Genesee Valley Canal | NY | 1840 | 1878 | 124 mi (200 km) | |
| Hampshire and Hampden Canal | MA | 1847 | 30 mi (48 km) | Continued into Connecticut as the Farmington Canal | |
| Hennepin Canal | IL | 1907 | 75.2 mi (121.0 km) | ||
| Hocking Canal | OH | 1841 | 1890 | 56 mi (90 km) | |
| Illinois and Michigan Canal | IL | 1848 | 1933 | 96 mi (154 km) | |
| Indiana Central Canal | IN | 8 mi (13 km) | Partially completed | ||
| James River and Kanawha Canal | VA | Only Virginia portion completed | |||
| Junction Canal | PA | 1854 | 1871 | 18 mi (29 km) | |
| NY | |||||
| Landsford Canal | SC | 1823 | 2 mi (3.2 km) | ||
| Lehigh Canal | PA | 1821 | 1942 | 72 mi (116 km) | A mule-drawn tourist barge operates at the National Canal Museum |
| Leiper Canal | PA | 1829 | 1852 | 3 mi (4.8 km) | |
| Love Canal | NY | ||||
| Main Line of Public Works | PA | ||||
| Miami Canal | FL | ||||
| Miami and Erie Canal | OH | 1913 | 274 mi (441 km) | ||
| Middlesex Canal | MA | 1803 | 1851 | 27 mi (43 km) | |
| Milan Canal | OH | 1839 | 1868 | ||
| Mississippi River–Gulf Outlet Canal | LA | 1968 | 2009 | 76 mi (122 km) | |
| Morris Canal | NJ | 1829 | 1924 | 107 mi (172 km) | |
| Muscle Shoals Canal | AL | Drowned under Wilson Lake? | |||
| Ohio and Erie Canal | OH | 1827 | 308 mi (496 km) | ||
| Patowmack Canal (Potomac Canal) | MD | 1795 | 1828 | Consists of the Little Falls Canal, Great Falls Canal, Seneca Falls Canal, Payne's Falls Canal, and House Falls Canal | |
| VA | |||||
| Pawtucket Canal | MA | 1796 | |||
| Pennsylvania Canal | PA | ||||
| Pennsylvania and Ohio Canal | PA | 1840 | 1877 | 82 mi (132 km) | |
| OH | |||||
| Portage Canal | WI | 1876 | 1951 | 2 mi (3.2 km) | |
| Powell's Canal | VA | ||||
| Rapidan Dam Canal of the Rappahannock Navigation | VA | ||||
| Sandy and Beaver Canal | PA | 1848 | 1852 | 73 mi (117 km) | |
| OH | |||||
| Santee Canal | SC | 1800 | 1865 | 22 mi (35 km) | |
| Savannah Ogeechee Canal | GA | ||||
| Schuylkill Navigation | PA | 1825 | 1931 | 108 mi (174 km) | |
| Schuylkill and Susquehanna Navigation Company | PA | ||||
| Delaware and Schuylkill Navigation Company | PA | ||||
| Skinker's Canal | VA | ||||
| Snake Castle Canal | VA | ||||
| South Hadley Canal | MA | 1795 | |||
| Spring Valley Canal | VA | ||||
| Susquehanna Canal | MD | 1802 | 1840 | 9 mi (14 km) | |
| Susquehanna and Tidewater Canal | PA | 1840 | 1894 | 43 mi (69 km) | |
| MD | |||||
| Suwannee Canal | GA | ||||
| Taylor's Canal | VA | ||||
| Union Canal | PA | 1828 | 1885 | 82 mi (132 km) | |
| Wabash and Erie Canal | OH | 1843 | 1874 | 460 mi (740 km) | |
| IN | |||||
| Walhonding Canal | OH | 1842 | 1896 | 25 mi (40 km) | |
| Warren County Canal | OH | 1840 | 1848 | 20 mi (32 km) | |
| Washington City Canal | DC | 1815 | |||
| Wheatley's Canal | VA | ||||
| Whitewater Canal | IN | 1839 | 76 mi (122 km) | ||
| Wiconisco Canal | PA | 1845 | 1889 | 12 mi (19 km) |
Irrigation, industrial, and drainage canals
Arizona
California
- All-American Canal
- Back Channel
- Beardsley Canal
- Buena Vista Canal
- California Aqueduct
- Calloway Canal
- Carrier Canal
- Coachella Canal
- Colorado River Aqueduct
- Contra Costa Canal
- Corning Canal
- Delta–Mendota Canal
- Eastside Canal
- Folsom South Canal
- Friant-Kern Canal
- Glenn Colusa Canal
- Inter-California Canal
- Kern Island Canal
- Los Angeles Aqueduct
- Madera Canal
- Orland South Canal
- Orland North Canal
- Pioneer Canal
- Putah South Canal
- Stine Canal
- Tehama Colusa Canal
Florida
- Hillsboro Canal
- Miami Canal
- North New River Canal
- Tamiami Canal
- West Palm Beach Canal
Hawaii
- Waiolama Canal, Hilo
Idaho
Illinois
- North Shore Channel (popular for canoeing and kayaking)
Louisiana
- 17th Street Canal
- Carondelet Canal
- Florida Canal
- London Avenue Canal
- New Orleans Outfall Canals
- Orleans Canal
- Washington-Palmetto Canal
Massachusetts
Michigan
- Edison Sault Power Canal
Nebraska
New Jersey
- Cape May Canal
- Delaware and Raritan Canal
- Dundee Canal
- Morris Canal
- Point Pleasant Canal
- Raritan Water Power Canal
- Washington Canal
Texas
Natural inlets called canals
Lynn Canal and Portland Canal in Alaska and Hood Canal in Washington are natural inlets that use the name canal.
Canals by state
These are man made canals in each state that have been given a name and may consist of a narrow irrigation or drainage ditch to a large ship, municipal water and/or irrigation canal. States with extensive agricultural acreage may have many hundred to thousands of canals. USGS Topographical map numbers and latitudes and longitudes of each canal, usable as inputs into Google, Bing, etc. maps, are usually given.
| Canals in each state | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| State | Number of canals |
Ref. | State | Number of canals |
Ref. |
|
|
|||||
| Alabama | 21 | Montana | 858 | ||
| Alaska | 23 | Nebraska | 209 | ||
| Arizona | 289 | Nevada | 263 | ||
| Arkansas | 6 | New Hampshire | 10 | ||
| California | 2,903 | New Jersey | 41 | ||
| Colorado | 1,888 | New Mexico | 69 | ||
| Connecticut | 8 | New York | 116 | ||
| Delaware | 54 | North Carolina | 151 | ||
| Florida | 245 | North Dakota | 69 | ||
| Georgia | 25 | Ohio | 22 | ||
| Hawaii | 125 | Oklahoma | 9 | ||
| Idaho | 1,540 | Oregon | 661 | ||
| Illinois | 278 | Pennsylvania | 11 | ||
| Indiana | 2,239 | Rhode Island | 3 | ||
| Iowa | 299 | South Carolina | 33 | ||
| Kansas | 27 | South Dakota | 91 | ||
| Kentucky | 62 | Tennessee | 61 | ||
| Louisiana | 45 | Texas | 299 | ||
| Maine | 7 | Utah | 575 | ||
| Maryland | 44 | Vermont | 1 | ||
| Massachusetts | 26 | Virginia | 59 | ||
| Michigan | 1,668 | Washington | 237 | ||
| Minnesota | 1,451 | West Virginia | 2 | ||
| Mississippi | 185 | Wisconsin | 89 | ||
| Missouri | 287 | Wyoming | 1085 | ||
|
|
|||||
| Total canals | 18,241 | ||||
See also
- List of canals
- Sheep Creek
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List of canals in the United States Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.