Wabash & Erie Canal Park

During the 19th century, waterways were the highways of early American travel, connecting tiny villages to big cities, with horses and mules trotting along towpaths pulling canal boats. In the small town of Delphi, Indiana, travel started on the Wabash & Erie Canal — once the second longest canal in the world — in the early 1840s. 

Launching from here, a trip to New York Harbor would take about two weeks and require boarding four different vessels, including two canal boats and two steamships. It was an arduous trip, but it was still the best way to travel at the time.

With the advent of railroads, canals began to disappear, but the history of this early transportation method is preserved at the Wabash & Erie Canal Park in Delphi. Here, The Delphi, a motorized canal boat replica, travels along one of the few remaining remnants of this historic waterway, giving visitors the opportunity to experience what travel was like for people in the 1840s. The replica boat meanders down the canal, making its way under canopies of leafy trees and a brightly painted red bridge before passing an old lime kiln.

This connection to the past doesn’t end with the boat ride. The Canal Pioneer Village features an interactive museum and original structures, such as a log schoolhouse from the 1800s, a post office and the 1844 Case-Reed home, which can be booked for tours.

Sign up for classes to learn old-fashioned daily living skills like weaving pine-needle baskets, assembling a hearth broom or making a one-handled wooden bucket. There are trail systems and historic gardens to explore as well, and for overnight stays, camping, rustic cabins and RV sites are available. 1030 N. Washington St., Delphi, Indiana 46923, 765/564-2870, wabashanderiecanal.org