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Navarre , Canal Fulton and Massillon were the first governmental units to request title to the canal lands. Gradually, other entities also applied, and all of the canal lands in Stark County were kept in public hands, even though most entities did not have the money to do anything with their newly acquired property. Hundreds of meetings were held and plans were drawn up for future development of the recreational and educational potential of these public lands.
Simpson's columns provide a form of layman's education on canals and their importance. His first column prompted the Canton Repository to editorialize about the validity of canal preservation: “saving the Ohio & Erie Canal as a strip of park land, perhaps all the way from Lake Erie to the Ohio River . . .” His articles frequently feature restoration work on other canals around the country, and mentioned which governmental unit was undertaking the work. There was little uniformity. His last “Along the Towpath” column appeared on March 29, 1970 , just before his retirement from the newspaper.
Along the Towpath does not pretend to be a serious work of history, yet it chronicles the efforts to preserve and develop the canal over the years between 1964 and early 1970. Editor Russ Musarra of the Akron Beacon Journal selected columns written by Simpson published in the Canton Repository for inclusion in the book. Musarra organized the book so that each chapter is a presentation of the most important Simpson “Towpath” columns for that year. Chuck Ayers, an illustrator with the Akron Beacon Journal , provided the cover art and smaller graphics interspersed among the text. Design and layout of the book was done by Stephen Paschen of the University of Akron Libraries Archives .
Critics of Along the Towpath are quick to decry the absence of either an introduction or several chapters of background on the canal era written by an historian with expertise on the canals of Ohio . This definitely would have enhanced the value of the book, but it also should not be viewed as a fatal flaw. As a journalist, the author had the charge of writing in a manner that would appeal to his readers, while providing them with nuggets of information and, as a columnist, the freedom of urging his readers to take action. It seems to this reviewer that the existence of the Ohio & Erie Canal Corridor is testimony to the vision and the hard work of two very different individuals - Representative Ralph Regula and his press aide Al Simpson.
The author occupies a rather unique position. After his retirement from the Canton Repository , Simpson became Congressman Regula's press aide in 1975. In 1974, Congress passed legislation creating the 33,000 acre Cuyahoga Valley National Recreation Area, which was sponsored in the House by Akron Congressman John Seiberling and in the Senate by Howard Metzenbaum of Cleveland . This area was designated a National Historic Corridor nearly thirty years later in a bill sponsored by Representative Regula.
E. Paul Morehouse, Jr.
Department of History
The University of Akron
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