Looking west on Water Street from the junction with N. Main Street one can see the vacant lot in the foreground left where once stood the very successful Baltimore Basin Warehouse. (The warehouse was most utilitarian. In the winter, blocks of ice were cut from the frozen basin and stored in saw dust insulation for purchase by area citizens who needed to 'refrigerate' items from spoilage.)

The old towpath can be seen running to the left (south) of Water Street. The area of the street and the green area to the right (north) was once part of the basin. In the distance you can see the area near the FVT warehouse (old Crown Zellerbach) semi loading docks. Here was Lock #6 as seen in the turn-of-the-century postcard. This lock was referred to as the Mulinox or Smeck's Mill Lock depending on the era of ownership of the adjacent mill-warehouse complex just west of the lock. In the distance of this photo a small white building, that today houses the Safeway Auto Garage, is near the site of Smeck's Mill. During an unsuccessful business cycle the mill mysteriously burned with many residents suspecting arson as a means to collect insurance funds.

Lock #6 was referred to by locals as "Skinny-Dip" Lock. No further explanation should be necessary except to note that it was not a wise choice to be one of the last boys out after a refreshing swim!

The canal turned south-southwest from Lock #6 and the mill, and ran under what is today the extension of Water Street that passes the post office and police station. Here the canal went under West Market Street's covered bridge.

This bridge was known as "Bloody Nose Bridge" for a couple of reasons. It was a particularly "low bridge", meaning there was not much clearance for canawlers who were standing up, or otherwise not paying attention, as their boat crossed under West Marker Street. The shout of 'low bridge' (similar to today's 'heads up') was frequently heard from the banks as friendly warnings were cried at unsuspecting boat passengers. Many a knot on the head, a splash in the water, and words unprintable were the legacy of this bridge!

The other form of violence associated with this bridge and the adjacent covered bridge just to the east over Pawpaw Creek was the product of well-documented century and a quarter feud and rivalry between the Swiss settlers in Basil and the Virginia pioneers in New Market (Baltimore). Very few boys from one side of the canal ventured to the other side without a few buddies at his side!

There is a fascinating trend between the towpath era in Baltimore-Basil and the modern world of supersonic and space transportation. In an interview with well-known canawler Ira Jenkins for his 1928 articles on the Ohio & Erie Canal through Fairfield County, renowned local historian Lewis Cook recorded a story about the back-breaking work associated with canal commerce. Jenkins worked at Neff and Hummel Tile and Brickyard between the canal's West Market Street bridge and Lock #7, often referred to as the Wells' Lock. This was an especially busy section of the canal with a grist mill and several other businesses. (This lock has only the south wall remaining today). One of the many jobs held by Mr. Jenkins - Baltimore's "Mr. Canal" - was hauling limestone from Columbus to the brick and tile yard to be "burned" into field lime. Jenkins claimed the "hottest day's work" he ever had was loading limestone on a hot sultry day.

Ira Jenkins (1858-1942) has a niece who lives in Ventura, California. Mrs. Dorothy Jenkins Raimondi will celebrate her 96th birthday on March 27! She still has clear recollections of her "Uncle Iry" and his tales of life on the O&E Canal. Mrs. Jenkins-Raimondi is a cousin of the writer's wife, and she is a treasure of her time with memories that recounts Baltimore's yesteryear as very few still can. Uncle Iry Jenkins is buried in the Maple Grove Cemetery in "Rome Side".

Caption that was under the very unclear photos of the lock in the actual article:

The old (1908) photos are of the Mulnix, or Smeck's Mill Lock, and of the Baltimore Basin Warehouse that sat along the southeast corner of the Basin (or Mill Pond as more recent citizens will remember). The basin was used by the Ohio & Erie Canal to move boats eastward once they came under the N. Main Street bridge (about where the entrance driveway to the FVT plant is located) from Lock #5, the famous Dry Dock Lock. The towpath ran along the south shore of the basin and it can still be seen today along the grassy stretch running parallel and just south of Water Street from the open lot at Water and N. Main Streets to the west. This open lot was the site of the famous Bope-Gierhart Warehouse where canal boats loaded and unloaded on the north side and horse-drawn wagons exchanged goods on the south side of the warehouse. (A point of interest is the church steeple seen behind Lock #6. The long-gone church sat at the northeast corner of the intersection of W. Market and Union Streets).

The modern photo looking west of Water Street from the vacant (Warehouse) lot at the junction of Water and N. Main Streets. The north side of Water Street was part of the Baltimore Basin which was filled in the 1960's, breaking the hearts of all of us who fished it in the summer and skated it in the winter.

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