Soon after this section of the canal opened in 1827, engineers built the Pinery Dam and Brecksville Feeder to carry water from the Cuyahoga River into the canal at Lock 36. The additional water originally maintained a proper depth for canal boats, and an 1880 Ohio Canal Division report said the dam and feeder were in good condition, furnished all the extra water needed between this point and Cleveland, and had always been ample. Today the feeder provides water to the longest intact section of the Ohio and Erie Canal, a national historic landmark. A 1907 photograph shows the three bodies of water here, including the remnants of Lock 36 beyond what is now the trail bridge, and the lock chamber reportedly was filled when the Brecksville-Northfield High-Level Bridge was built in the 1930s.
