Old-timers recalled that the ice industry was the first to vanish after the ice boats from Cincinnati stopped coming. As the great virgin forests began to disappear, farmers ceased cutting timber in the winter, and the timber boats from the south went elsewhere. The last local product was stone from quarrying operations in the western part of the county. The demand for that declined with the invention of concrete.  In an effort to increase the efficiency of canal operations, the state leased the canal to private parties from 1861 to 1878. This venture was not successful, as the General Assembly granted special financial incentives to those who leased the land, thus costing the taxpayer more than when the state ran the system. As noted earlier, the required canal maintenance was also neglected by the private contractors.

There was little commercial or passenger traffic on the canal by 1900. Ruth Emmons of Sidney recalled that the last canal boat that came to Sidney arrived in 1904 or 1905. Captain Billy Coombs, a Newport native, has the honor of piloting the last boat on the canal in this area. He made the last run from a gravel pit outside of Newport to Ft. Loramie in 1912.  A canal boat operated by Capt. Harry Newton crashed into the aqueduct carrying the canal over Loramie Creek in 1912, severely damaging it. State officials refused to repair it.

The final devastating stroke was the great flood of 1913. Jack Gieck, in his book, "A Photo Album of Ohio's Canal Era", summarized the effect of the flood on the canal.  "March 1913 brought Ohio's canal system to an abrupt end. After a winter of record snowfall, spring rains had been abnormally heavy. All the reservoirs were gorged with water, and the excess spilled over into the canals, turning them into torrents in many places - destroying aqueducts, washing out banks, and flooding adjacent towns and countryside."  It was apparent that the cost of repair could not be justified. The canals were officially abandoned as a transportation system.

The canal continued to hold water for a long time after the flood in some areas. The boat 'Lenita' (shown at the top of this page) was used in Sidney for pleasure cruises for many years. Built in 1910 by Sidney resident Pete Smith and employees of the Bimel Buggy Company, the 'Lenita' had a gasoline engine. The craft was owned and maintained by the Verdier family of Sidney.