Madison county historian Stephen T. Jackson wrote an article for The Anderson Herald that was later posted on the web site of the Madison County Historical Society. The topic was “The Hydraulic Canal”. I grew up near it, and even canoed part of it, and never heard of it!
First, a little geography.
Blow up this photo by touching it or clicking on it if you're using a mouse.What you see is the White River as it winds through eastern Madison County. The Hydraulic Canal started just above Daleville, where the river was dammed to insure that water would be available when needed.. This just happens to be the spot where the great Mathias family canoe trip started. The canal follows the river’s path north and then west of Chesterfield, crossing Indiana 32 at the airport, and then turning as it goes past Mounds Park and then crossing the old Bypass just north of the old Mounds Mall. Notice how often I use the word “old”?
And then it turns back north and west to the park where the city pool was located (start of the “new” Eisenhower bridge…it it’s still standing) and the Anderson Free Fair was held each summer (complete with horse races) and up to the “foot” of Alexandria Pike at Grand Avenue. The canal ended at this point, just a quarter mile or so from Broadway where the famous (or infamous depending on your ancestry…you’ll need to ask!) Frisch’s Big Boy was located.
The total distance of the canal was 8 miles. It was funded at $84,000 in 1868 and was completed in 1874! The purpose was to make use of the 40 foot fall over the length of the canal to provide power for mills and factories. Note that this was before the discovery of natural gas….the gas boom that led the Remy Brothers to move their fledgling starter motor company to Anderson.
The canal was dug by hand and was 40 feet wide at the top, 26 feet wide at the bottom, and 4 feet deep. They actually were able to use the remains of an older failed canal project, part of the Indiana Central Canal project, which essentially bankrupted the state in the 1830’s.
When they opened the flood gates, the sides of the canal immediately washed away….oops. The cleaned it up and tried again…same result. End of story! Apparently, there are remains of the canal (other than the river itself, still visible in several areas, but they are all on private land.
https://mchs09.wordpress.com/2009/04/24/hydraulic-canal/
To put some perspective on the geography of this, keep in mind that Bruce, Tonia and Kent spent their teenage years in a new (at the time) neighborhood just east of Rangeline Road, between Indiana 32 and East 8th Street. Curt and his brothers grew up living on East 10th Street east of the bypass (now called Indiana 9) and west of Rangeline Road near a shopping center that was anchored at the time by the Marsh Supermarket. All of these cousins could hypothetically walk to the river. (Any stories???)
Our family would often drive south on Alexandria Pike on the way to town, ending up at Grand Avenue. Whether heading to Frisch’s, heading to town, or to our other grandparents who lived on East 8th Street, we knew the route. My wife Teri grew up on North Street in Chesterfield, where walking to the river was no big deal. The campground there was known as North 40 at that time and provided great sledding hills in the winter.
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