Mustill's Store 1875

Canal boat riders had time to visit Mustill's store when passing through Akron, for Lock 15 was right in front and "locking through" took a few minutes. This building is one of the last relics of Akron's canal boat era. It's on Ferndale Street, just north of North Street.

Lock 15, which sits across the Towpath Trail from the Mustill Store, is the first watered lock in Akron. It is also the first of the densely packed "staircase" locks called the Cascade Locks that Akron owes its early industrial growth to. The water that comes out of the lock joins with the Little Cuyahoga River. This was not always the case. The Flood of 1913 washed out the narrow strip of land that separated the river from the canal when the canal was still functional. This put an end to the use of the canal north of Lock 15. The Towpath Trail now passes on the west side of the canal, but originally existed on the east side. A spillway ran along the west side of the canal and passed under the porch of the Mustill Store. Drain culverts can still be seen where this wasteway ran, as well as part of one of two tumbles for the spillway. Although it doesn't appear on the Plat Map of the canal from 1912, the mural in the Mustill Store shows another waterway coming from the south and entering the spillway at the southern end of the tumble. The much longer Cascade Mill Race entered the Little Cuyahoga River just east of this smaller race. The Cascade Race tunnel still exists under North Street. A turning basin sat between Lock 15 and North Street.
 

MY CANAL BOAT RIDE 

By Arthur Blower

That same year [1890], I embarked on an adventure that earned me a ride on a canal boat. My parents were then living on North Maple Street, not very far from the foot of Walnut Street at Lock 15. When I arrived at this lock, which was in front of Mustill's grocery, there was a boat ready to start south to Lock 14. I remember shouting to a woman on the deck of the last cabin: "Hey, Lady, gimme a ride?" She answered by helping me to scramble up on the deck and making me sit on the edge of the opening with my feet on the ladder that led below. She commanded me to sit perfectly still, which I did. 

The man at the rudder yelled at the horses on the towpath and the boat moved slowly and proceeded into the next lock. The man yelled at the horses continually. He could yell louder than any man I have ever heard. His yelling, however, had little, if any, effect on the horses: they just plodded along without any change of pace. 

When the boat was in lock 14, the woman carried me down to the towpath along Welton's grocery where she fondled and caressed me for a moment, and then ordered me to run home.

Blower, Arthur H. Akron at the Turn of the Century 1890-1913. 1955. Digital Rpt in History of Akron & Summit County. Ed. Michael  Cohill and Jeri  Holland. Mar. 2006.  <http://akronhistory.org>. Path: Research & Documents.