Construction began on September 17, 1835, when the two engineers of the canal struck iron stakes in the ground at the center of what was known as the "Portage Summit" between present-day Kent and Ravenna in Ohio.

Workers manually dug the 82 miles (132 km) of the canal using picks, shovels, and wheelbarrows.

This contributed to trade between Northeast Ohio and other Eastern states making towns and villages along the canal larger and more prosperous.

[5] Some have also credited the canal with the development of the iron ore industry in the Mahoning Valley in Ohio.

A P & O Canal culvert, sometimes referred to as an aqueduct, remains in southern Kent over Plum Creek just south of the Cuyahoga River.