Allen County, Indiana Genealogy

Street View photo from Google maps shows monument in Orff Park with Carole Lombard House on the right in the background.

The Wabash & Erie Canal Aqueduct posted March 22, 2021 by Friends of the Rivers on YouTube.

January 17, 2023 post by The History Center with several photos of their 2023 Sculpture display on Facebook.
Relief Carving, Sugar pine wood carving. Wabash & Erie Canal Aqueduct at St. Mary's River, Fort Wayne. Signed RHW, Ralph Wehnert 1984.

WABASH AND ERIE CANAL, AQUEDUCT AT FORT WAYNE. The Wabash and Erie canal crossed the St. Mary's river in the town of Fort Wayne at a point between the present two Nickel Plate railroad bridges. The picture is after a drawing made by Ellis Kaiser, now of Springfield, Missouri, presented in 1916 to Louis S. C. Schroeder. On page 364 in The pictorial history of Fort Wayne, Indiana : a review of two centuries of occupation of the region about the head of the Maumee River by Griswold, B. J. (Bert Joseph), 1873-1927; Taylor, Samuel R., Mrs, Publication date 1917 on Archive.org.

Canal, ruins of aqueduct 1882 in the Allen County Public Library Digital Collections at the Allen County Public Library.

Wabash Erie Canal: remains of St. Mary's River Aqueduct after ice damage. ca. 1885-1890. in the Allen County Public Library Digital Collections at the Allen County Public Library.

Wabash & Erie Canal aqueduct site at St. Mary's River, August 1921  in the Allen County Public Library Digital Collections at the Allen County Public Library.

1. NS/NKP Bridge and Wabash & Erie Canal Aqueduct over St. Marys River in Fort Wayne, IN has several photos some are on this page on the Industrial History blog.
2. Fort Wayne Aqueduct Covered Bridge with drawing and maps on BridgeHunter.com Description The depth of the water on this aqueduct was 4.5'. The roof blew off in 1872 and was never replaced. In 1882 the aqueduct was razed to make room for the construction of Nickel Plate Railroad Bridge. Some of this information may be from lostbridges.org.
3. Fort Wayne Aqueduct, Allen County on LostBridges.org. Comments: The Aqueduct Covered Bridge carried the Wabash & Erie Canal over the St. Mary's River one block from the West Street Covered Bridge. It was 17 feet 6 inches wide and had a water depth of 4 feet 6 inches. It was built in 1834 by the Canal Trustees. When the roof blew off in 1872 it was never replaced. It was lost in 1882 when the same location was needed for a railroad bridge. The old Aqueduct Covered Bridge must have been a substantial structure, as the Nickel Plate Railroad needed to use dynamite to remove it. Coordinates are approximate.
4. AQUEDUCT COVERED BRIDGE on CountyHistory.com now on the Internet Archive Wayback Machine stating: The Aqueduct Covered Bridge is no longer standing … it carried the Wabash & Erie Canal over the St. Mary's River in Allen County and was most likely located in Congressional Township 30 North, Section 2, Range 12 East, one block from the West Street Covered Bridge. Built in 1834 by the Canal Trustees, this Burr Arch Truss structure probably consisted of 2-spans measuring 204 feet in total length with a portal clearance 17 feet 6 inches wide and the capacity for a water depth of 4 feet 6 inches. When the roof blew off in 1872 it was not replaced and the old covered aqueduct was removed when its location was needed for a railroad bridge in 1882; although nearly 50 years old, dynamite had to be employed to remove the structure. The common numerical identifier used to reference the Aqueduct Covered Bridge is 14-02-01.

5. On July 16, 1927, a monument in Orff Park was dedicated by the Old Aqueduct Club. It is a statue of two young boys...

   Posted by The History Center on Monday, July 16, 2018

   July 16, 2018 post by The History Center on Facebook:

   On July 16, 1927, a monument in Orff Park was dedicated by the Old Aqueduct Club. It is a statue of two young boys dressed in the coveralls of the 1870s with an inscription that simply reads: “Let’s Go Swimmin.” The Old Aqueduct Club was a unique Fort Wayne group that celebrated childhood memories of the canal era. The aqueduct carried the main channel of the Wabash & Erie Canal across the Saint Mary’s River just north of Main Street. After the canal ceased operation, the aqueduct was abandoned until it finally collapsed during a terrible ice storm in 1883. The Old Aqueduct Club was formed in November 1912 and the rules of the club stated that members had to be male persons forty-five years of age or older who had lived west of Calhoun Street before 1872 and had gone swimming in the old aqueduct. The Club annually held a dinner meeting and by the 1930s there were as many as 500 members who claimed to have met the requirements. Members of the Old Aqueduct Club used the gavel during their annual dinner meetings. By 1955, there were only eleven members left to attend the banquet and the club was dissolved.

6. St Mary's Aqueduct - Ft Wayne W&E Canal Edsall Mill using canal water coming from St Joseph Feeder into main canal at Rumsey & Wheeler. Feeder is 6 1/2 miles long.

   Posted by Canal Society of Indiana on Tuesday, January 8, 2019

   Tuesday, January 8, 2019 post by the Canal Society of Indiana on Facebook:

   St Mary's Aqueduct - Ft Wayne W&E Canal
   Edsall Mill using canal water coming from St Joseph Feeder into
   main canal at Rumsey & Wheeler. Feeder is 6 1/2 miles long.

7. The St. Marys aqueduct in Fort Wayne was only 160 feet long and was roofed. The enclosed diagram shows the aqueduct,...

   Posted by Canal Society of Indiana on Monday, July 12, 2021

   Monday, July 12, 2021 post by the Canal Society of Indiana on Facebook:

   The St. Marys aqueduct in Fort Wayne was only 160 feet long and was roofed. The enclosed diagram shows the aqueduct, the large basin to the west and the Orff Mill that operated using the water from the canal. The canal water came from the St. Joseph River via the 6½ mile feeder canal.

   Hand drawn map labeled: The Old and the New A Composite Sketch of the Aqueduct, Canal, Mill, and Bridges. Site S. Marys River Fort Wayne IND Dedicated to Louis S. C. Schroeder From Memory & Present by ? From 18?? to 1925

   They have several Facebook posts on aqueducts.

8. The boys of the West Central neighborhood loved to swim in the old St. Marys aqueduct. At that time the roofed...

   Posted by Canal Society of Indiana on Monday, July 12, 2021

   July 12, 2021 post by the Canal Society of Indiana on Facebook:

   The boys of the West Central neighborhood loved to swim in the old St. Marys aqueduct. At that time the roofed structure was a perfect place to swim, but they had to watch for approaching boats. The statue pictured below was funded by members of the Old Aqueduct Club and was installed in 1927. It still stands today in little Orff Park south of Main Street near the site of the aqueduct. The statue was created by Fort Wayne architect Marshall S. Mahurin.

9. Pictured here ice is destroying what little remained of .Ft Wayne’s St Marys aqueduct. As shown it is just south of...

   Posted by Canal Society of Indiana on Monday, July 12, 2021

   Monday, July 12, 2021 post by the Canal Society of Indiana on Facebook:

   Pictured here ice is destroying what little remained of .Ft Wayne’s St Marys aqueduct. As shown it is just south of today’s railroad bridge. The view is from the east side looking west. The new sign that CSI just has placed is located just below the men standing on the west side.

   This photo is shown from the Allen County Public Library Digital Collections at the Allen County Public Library.

21Country: What’s the story behind Fort Wayne’s smallest park? by Daniel Beals uploaded Nov 12, 2021 on YouTube
21Country: What’s the story behind Fort Wayne’s smallest park? At 0.02 acres, Orff Park protects the legacy of the Old Aqueduct Club has a video with Tom Castaldi, local historian discussing the Wabash and Erie Canal and Old Aqueduct club published November 9, 2021 on 21AliveNews.com.

1912 - Boys of Long Ago Will Meet Again - Old Aqueduct Club

Article from Nov 23, 1912 The Fort Wayne Sentinel (Fort Wayne, Indiana) 1912, Old aqueduct club, Fort wayne, Indiana

1912 - Boys of Long Ago Will Meet Again - Old Aqueduct Club The Fort Wayne Sentinel Fort Wayne, Indiana, Saturday, November 23, 1912 Page 4, on Newspapers.com.

September 15, 1950 Lutheran Church Missouri Synod Scrapbook No. 6 029_Newspaper Clipping (1950.09.15) in the Allen County Public Library Digital Collections at the Allen County Public Library. Officers 38th annual dinner at the Chamber of Commerce. Left to right: Charles Krudop, secretary; William F. Ropa, third vice-president and treasueer; Charles E. Gilbert, retiring president; Theodore W. Seabold, president; Charles W. Tygar, first vice-president; and Martin App, second vice-president. Oldest swimmers Gustav J. Kampe, 96 and Christian F. Schnitker, 92.

Formed in 1912 by several citizens who as boys played and swam in the aqueduct that had served the canal and not used for a quarter of a century. A statue was erected in 1927 in Orff Park 900 West Main Street, corner of Rockhill Street & Thieme Drive near the Carole Lombard Memorial Bridge by the members of the unique Fort Wayne civic group that numbered around 500 in the 1930s. On page 552 of the The pictorial history of Fort Wayne, Indiana : a review of two centuries of occupation of the region about the head of the Maumee River under the title ACTIVITIES of 1912 it states: The Aqueduct club, composed of men who, as boys, "went swim- ming" in the old Wabash and Erie canal aqueduct, which spanned the St. Maiy's river, was organized.

1. See John Orff, Orff Mill, or Orff Park.
2. Aqueduct Club Monument by ARCH ( Architecture and Community Heritage).
3. Old Aqueduct Club Memorial at The Historical Marker Datatbase HMdb.org.
4. Old Aqueduct Club Monument, (sculpture) is at the Smithsonian Institution.
5. “Old Aqueduct Club” by Tom Castaldi, local historian published October 3, 2013 on the History Center Notes & Queries blog.
6. The Old Aqueduct Club was briefly mentioned on page 7 of Fort Wayne Pioneers by Richard T. Blitz presented to the Quest Club on April 26, 1957 and on page 6 of The public art of Fort Wayne, Indiana by Angie Quinn presented to the Quest Club on March 28, 2014 at Allen County Public Library Digital Collections at the Allen County Public Library.
7. Was discussed November 24, 2022 on True Fort Wayne Indiana History on Facebook with release of new book Crossroads of History: Strolling through Fort Wayne's Parks by Joshua Schipper.

8. 

   March 5, 2023 post on True Fort Wayne Indiana History on Facebook:

   Discussion with photos of the old covered bridge, Thieme Park/Overlook near Orff Park and the old Wabash & Erie Canal aqueduct, 1913 Flood and more.

Back to top