For 15 years or more, the village prospered as one of the busiest ports on the Great Lakes. Canal eraĬonstruction of the Milan Canal began in 1833 and it opened to lake navigation on July 4, 1839.The peak year of commerce was 1847. Beginning in 1826, local investors proposed a ship canal that would make Milan a lake port that could conveniently connect to the new Erie Canal, allowing direct regional commerce with New York City. The sandy and wet prairies north and west of Milan were not easily crossed by a wagon with a heavy harvest load. Prior to the advent of railroads, regional farmers had to bring their harvests to Lake Erie ports by wagon. The village was incorporated in 1833 in large measure to finance the construction of the Milan Canal. Merry dammed the Huron River below the village and established a gristmill and sawmill in the river valley. Milan was platted by Ebenezer Merry in 1817 on the site of a previous Moravian Indian mission village, Pettquoting. 1.2 Post-canal era and Milan's heritage.
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