The Ohio River- an American waterway.
Created | Updated Feb 10, 2012
The Ohio river runs 981 miles (1579 km) from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to The Mississippi River at Fort Defiance State Park, near Cairo,Illinois. It is a navigable river and a major transportation route for Coal Barges and other commodities. The Iroquois gave it the name. Ohio literally means 'great river' and it really is. It is one of the most recognizable rivers in North America, and is used to define part of the state boundaries for five states: West Virginia, Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana and Illinois.
About ten percent of the US population lives in the watershed of this river and over three million people get their drinking water from it.
history
The Ohio river has always been a good way to get from one place to another. The first European to use it was the French explorer LaSalle in 1669. In 1763 at the end of the French and Indian War Britain obtained control of the river and this control was ceded to the US at the end of the US Revolutionary war (1783). Before the advent of Railroads or the Erie Canal the river was the main artery connecting the settlers in the North-West Territories with the east coast of the US. In 1824 the US Congress asked the US Corp of Engineers to study how this transportation might be improved.
The Ohio was once considered the boundary between slave states and free states prior to the US Civil War. Many slaves in the
'Underground Railway' found assistance after crossing the river.
The Headwaters
In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania the Allegheny and the Monongahela converge. The Allegheny is 321 miles (517 km) long running through the states of Pennsylvania and New York. The Monongahela runs 130 miles ( 209 km) starting in West Virginia and continuing into Pennsylvania. The Allegheny river has 8 locks, the Monongahela has 9, and on the Ohio between Martinsville, West Virginia and Pittsburgh there are 6 locks. In addition to the commercial traffic,
thousands of recreational boats use the locks near Pittsburgh every year, there are also excursion boats traveling the rivers in this area.
Attractions
Along the banks of the Ohio River are many National and State Parks, museums, galleries and other attractions.
The cities of Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, and Louisville and are situated on the Ohio, along with many smaller places like Wheeling West Virginia, or Evansville, Indiana.
Commerce and Transportation
Over 900 manufacturing facilities, terminals and docks depend on the River, in addition to 20 dams and 49 generating facilities.
There is also an extensive system of bridges which is constantly being updated.
