Constructed when the territory was part of Prussian Silesia, it was originally known as the Klodnitz Canal (German: Klodnitzkanal).
Because the Kłodnica (Klodnitz) was not navigable, a canal was needed to provide transportation for the flourishing coal and ore mining, as well as the metallurgy industry in the Upper Silesia region.
Designed by John Baildon, an engineer from Scotland and Friedrich Wilhelm von Reden, Director of the High Mining Office in Breslau (Wrocław), the canal was built between 1792 and 1812.
However, construction of rail transport facilities connecting the Upper Silesian coalfields eroded the importance of the waterway.
Between 1888 and 1893, the canal was expanded to allow the passage of vessels up to 100 tons load and 1.2 meters (3.9 ft) draft.