Towpaths to Tugboats: A History of American Canal Engineering

Very little has been written about early canal engineers who, under unbelievable hardships, created marvelous new avenues of communication through the wilderness of the Northeastern United States. With the help of coauthors Mayo, Hahn and Gibson, Shank traces the canal era through its early beginning in New England, the Erie Canal, "Canal Fever" in the Northeast, the "Soo," the Illinois-Michican Canal, the Panama Canal, the canalization of Ohio, Mississippi and Tennesee, and...finally...the St. Lwrence Seaway. Experts of canal engineering themselves, the authors pooled their knowledge to make this book possible. Includes 130 drawings, maps and photos.