Boats up to 80 feet long were towed along the canal by mules, horses, or oxen walking on a prepared towpath along the bank, at a rate of four to five miles per hour.

Due to competition from railroads, which began to be built in the area in the 1850s, the commercial use of the canal gradually declined during the late 19th century.

[8] To overcome these obstacles, many people, including George Washington and several other politicians, expressed early support for a national canal system to connect many of the country's waterways.

[8] At the time, many prominent leaders in the Democratic Republican Party believed that such improvements should be built not by the national government but by the individual states.

The United States Congress approved national canal legislation in 1817, 1822, and 1830, but each bill was vetoed by the sitting president.

Because Ohio is not entirely flat, the system of locks had to be designed to act as a staircase so boats could navigate the difference in elevation.

Indian Lake in Logan County was greatly enlarged to provide a steadier supply of water for the Sidney feeder canal.

Much of the original towpath was redeveloped as the right-of-way for the Cincinnati and Lake Erie Railroad, an electric interurban streetcar that operated until 1938.

The massive west abutment of the Old Nine-mile Aqueduct over the Great Miami River is still present approximately 400 ft (120 m) upstream of the Taylorsville Dam east of Vandalia (Montgomery County).

The abutment terminates a fairly intact canal segment that extends at least 5 mi (8.0 km) north to Tipp City.

This segment includes an intact concrete weir near the abandoned Vandalia water treatment plant (aka "Tadmore Station") and a ruined lock (#16, "Picayune") about halfway to Tipp City along Canal Road.

The canal remains in water (and navigable for canoes or kayaks) in the rural region between Delphos and St. Marys, Ohio.

From north to south along State Route 66, sections of the original canal are visible in Delphos, at a small historic park located at the Deep Cut in Spencerville, Lock Two (a hamlet mostly consisting of period brick buildings), New Bremen, Minster, Fort Loramie, and Piqua.

[12] Much of the canal corridor continues as a prosperous manufacturing area; today Interstate 75 and railroads provide the chief transportation means.

An historical reenactment of the Miami-Erie canal days is held during summer and early fall months at Providence Metropark along the Maumee River just west of Toledo near Grand Rapids.

Two mules pull the canal boat titled The Volunteer, while workers man the tiller and provide commentary to the passengers.