Transportation

In the early years, pioneers came to Ohio by foot, wagon, horse or boat. Large freight wagons drawn by horses could be hired to transport belongings while the settler walked. Later, they could travel by steamboat to Ohio. The first steamboat on the Ohio was the New Orleans, in 1811. By 1823, there were 262 steamboats operating on the Ohio with a speed of 10 to 12 miles per hour. Even in 1850, Ohio River steamboats were a very popular mode of transportation, carrying 3,000,000 passengers in a year.

The canals came to Shelby County, Ohio, in the 1840s followed by the railroads in the mid 1850s. Henry Ford’s automobiles revolutionized travel in the 1900s.

The early roads in Shelby County will be found among those leading from Piqua to Wapakoneta, from Troy to Dingmansburg (East Sidney), from Dingmansburg to Wapakoneta, and from Piqua, or from the Piqua and Wapakoneta road to Hardin and St. Marys.

'Pioneer' segment written in October, 1997 by Sherrie Casad-Lodge

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