Seeking an alternate transportation route to distant markets, many Ohio farmers and manufacturers wanted to connect the Ohio River to Lake Erie with a canal. Beginning in Cleveland, the Ohio-Erie Canal ran south the length of the state to Portsmouth. The canal was 308 miles long, 40 feet wide at the surface, and 4 feet deep. It opened for traffic along its entire length in 1832 and brought great change as population along the canal increased and Ohio's commercial, political, and industrial growth boomed. Products grown and manufactured in this previously isolated region gained access to world markets, profits for farmers and merchants increased, and the state's economy was bolstered. With the rise of railroads in the 1860s, canals became obsolete because railroads were faster and more dependable, and the canal system ceased operating after a disastrous flood in 1913. Eleven toll houses were strategically located along the canal at Cleveland, Akron, Massillon, Canal Dover, Roscoe, Newark, Carrol, Circleville, Waverly, and Portsmouth, where each canal boat paid a toll or fee for use of the canal, usually charged per mile in pennies or mills by weight or container. The Canal Dover Toll House stood just east of this location between the canal and the Tuscarawas River.