Last updated: June 15, 2026
Place
Lock 31
NPS/Arrye Rosser
Quick Facts
Location:
Park at Boston Trailhead, 1508 Boston Mills Road, Peninsula, Ohio 44264. (Accessible parking at Boston Store Trailhead.) Walk south on the Towpath Trail.
Significance:
Lock 31 was one of 44 locks along the Ohio & Erie Canal that lifted canal boats through 395 feet of elevation change between Cleveland and Akron.
Designation:
Ohio and Erie Canal District; Ohio and Erie Canalway National Heritage Area; Ohio to Erie Trail; Industrial Heartland Trail Network
Amenities
3 listed
Audio Description, Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits, Wheelchair Accessible
Locks along the Ohio & Erie Canal were assigned numbers, but also gained nicknames. Lock 31 became known as Lonesome Lock. All kinds of local legends sprang up about Lonesome Lock.
Some of these stories come from Pearl Nye. He was born in the late 1800s on his family’s canalboat and later adopted the name Captain Pearl Nye. The Great Flood of 1913 ended the Nye family’s canal days. Years later, in the 1930s, folklorists discovered Pearl Nye and recorded his songs and stories. As a child, Pearl had a scare at Lock 31, no doubt created by pranksters from Peninsula. He expanded on the legends of Lonesome Lock, telling stories of robberies, horse and mule stealing, and even murders happening at Lock 31.
During the Canal Era, locks were like highway interchanges today. They became places where development clustered. Despite the name, Lonesome Lock did have buildings nearby, including a barn, house, and sawmill. Consider, just how lonesome was this lock?
Lock 31 is located just south of Stumpy Basin and about 1.5 miles south of Boston. It is about one mile north of Peninsula.