The decision to build the Pennsylvania and Ohio Canal resulted from several canal conventions at Warren's first courthouse in 1833, with Warren advocates including Simon Perkins, Leicester King, David Tod, and Calvin Pease. Finished in 1840, this 82 mile canal linked the Beaver Canal and the Ohio and Erie Canal by an east-west route for passengers and commerce. On May 23, 1839, a celebration marked the completion of the canal from Beaver, Pennsylvania, to Warren, where canal boats crossed the Mahoning River near Van Gorder's Mill. There was a lock on the east side of the Mahoning and eight series of locks on the west. The canal exported coal, iron ore, cheese, butter, and other produce, and imported sugar, molasses, citrus fruits, and other needed products. It opened previously hard-to-reach markets and brought wealth and prosperity along its route, especially in the Warren area. By 1856, the canal was replaced by the railroad, and the entire route was abandoned by 1872.