Canals were an important means of transportation when Carroll was founded in 1829 by William Tong and his brother Oliver, who chose the site because it was where the proposed intersection of the Lancaster Lateral Canal and Ohio-Erie Canal would be constructed. It was the only site in Fairfield County where two canals met, and local residents came to know it simply as the junction. With the emergence of railroads, canals became obsolete, and the last canal boat passed through Carroll in 1897.