Sweet Breeze

a Brief History

Sweet Breeze, Fort Wayne’s replica canal boat, is owned by Friends of the Rivers and is operated on our behalf by Fort Wayne Parks and Recreation.

  • Tours depart from Promenade Park's south dock

  • Tours run from May through October

  • Seating for 38 riders

  • Purchase single tickets or schedule an entire boat for your party or gathering.

  • Restroom facilities available on board

Reservations for river tours aboard the Sweet Breeze may be made here. 

The Wabash and Erie Canal: 1843-1874

The Wabash and Erie Canal was a shipping canal that linked the Great Lakes to the Ohio River via an artificial (manmade) waterway. The canal provided traders with access from the Great Lakes all the way to the Gulf of Mexico. Over 460 miles long, it was the longest canal ever built in North America.

The canal, known as the Wabash & Erie in the 1850s and thereafter, was actually a combination of four canals: The Miami and Erie Canal (from the Maumee River near Toledo, Ohio to Junction, Ohio); the original Wabash and Erie Canal (the Fort Wayne canal-from Junction to Terre Haute, Indiana); the Cross Cut Canal (from Terre Haute, Indiana to Worthington, Indiana-Point Commerce); and the Central Canal (from Worthington to Evansville, Indiana).

The canal began operation in the summer of 1843, yet only operated for a decade before it became apparent that it was not economically viable. Even when canal boats were operated at extremely slow speeds, the banks rapidly eroded, and the canal had to be constantly dredged to be operable. The last canal boat on the Wabash Canal made its last docking in 1874 in Huntington, Indiana. Friends of the Rivers, Sweet Breeze, creates the mystery and excitement of what was to be a new era of commerce and travel in the Midwest.

Canals and Canal Boats

The Wabash & Erie Canal traveled 497 miles from Toledo, Ohio on Lake Erie to Evansville, Indiana, through Fort Wayne, cutting a portage(route) between the Maumee River and the Wabash River.

Fort Wayne was the highest point on the canal (i.e. the summit), so Fort Wayne earned the name, “Summit City.”

Canal boats carried people and goods on rivers and canals from 1843-1874, which was much faster than burdensome wagons.

Draft animals, usually mules, pulled long, narrow canal boats by a rope on a path next to the canal, called a towpath. (Fort Wayne Trails has named a section of the trail system from Eagle Marsh to Rockhill Park, the Towpath Trail as this was a section of the Wabash & Erie Canal.)

Sweet Breeze Today (adapted from fortwayneparks.org)

Scarano Boat Builders, based in Albany, NY, constructed Sweet Breeze as a modern adaptation of the 1840s canal boat. This flat-bottomed, aluminum-hulled vessel measures 54 feet in length, with a draft of 2.75 feet and an air draft of 8.5 feet. Designed at three-quarters the size of historic canal boats to better suit contemporary waterways, Sweet Breeze is powered by a 55 HP Marine Diesel Volvo Penta engine. It was transported via lowboy trailer in January 2017, launched into the Maumee River by crane on May 20th, and officially christened on June 5th. In the past 7 years, Sweet Breeze has hosted over 30,000 visitors and over 1000 tours!

Source: Indiana Historian The A Magazine Exploring Indiana History Canal Mania in Indiana