Before canals, Ohio's main form of transportation was by horse and wagon. The Ohio & Erie Canal formed an early shipping route connecting Lake Erie to the Ohio River and linked Ohio to the rest of the nation. Lock 4, the last remaining fully intact lock in Stark County, was one of 146 locks between Cleveland and Portsmouth on the Ohio & Erie Canal, and it helped Canal Fulton grow and flourish as a port along the canal. Although a common myth holds that all locks had lock tenders, most locks were operated by the boat crews themselves. The nearby replica known as the Lock Tender's House was constructed years after the canal ceased to operate and is actually a Works Progress Administration project from the 1930s. Ohio later considered establishing a new state park in the upper reaches of the Muskingum Watershed and restored nearly 10 miles of canal between Canal Fulton and Massillon as part of that project, but the outbreak of World War II prevented the state park from materializing. Today Lock 4 offers a view into Stark County's early transportation routes and the history that shaped the county.