Inspired by the success of New York’s Erie Canal, Ohio built the Miami and Erie Canal to promote business and travel between the Ohio River and Lake Erie, linking Cincinnati with Toledo on the west side of the state. Construction began in 1825 and the canal opened for traffic in 1845. Because the 103 locks along its 274-mile route required abundant water, feeder lakes were established, including Lewistown Reservoir, which was created from natural springs and shallow lakes in the area. Work on the reservoir began in 1851, with mostly immigrant laborers using horse-drawn wooden scoops to move earth for embankments reinforced with fallen timber and stone from nearby quarries, earning one dollar a day plus room, board, and a shot of whisky. When the original reservoir proved insufficient, enlargement projects expanded it to 6,344 acres, and it was completed in 1860 at an approximate total cost of $506,000 for initial construction and later enlargements. The canal’s route through virgin forests, swamps, and shallow lakes required notable engineering works, including a twin-arched stone culvert at Troy that allowed a tributary of the Great Miami River to flow beneath the canal and stair-stepped locks near Lockington that raised or lowered water 67 feet over one-half mile so barges could cross the Loramie Summit. Passage through these locks took several hours, helping Lockington and other canal communities flourish as traders and travelers spent time there. More efficient railroads eventually caused the canal’s decline and demise. Lewistown Reservoir ceased serving as a canal feeder in 1896, and by 1898 it had become a popular resort and destination, after which the Ohio General Assembly set it aside as a public park called Indian Lake. In 1908, the Waste Weir Bulkhead, now known as the spillway, on the lake’s south side was rebuilt in concrete by T.H. Watson at a cost of $29,364.80, and it was scheduled for replacement in 2017 at an estimated cost of $6.900.000.