St. Helena II

The St. Helena II is a canal boat that was built by a 10-man team under the direction of the Stark County Historical Society. The builders included Paul Baird, Clyde Gainey, Carrol Gantz, Gale Hartel, Jim Guest, Ed Harriman, Dick Mohler, Pete Neidert, Roy Preece and Walter Smith. The boat was first dedicated on July 11th, 1970 and retired in November of 1994. The boat currently is on display outdoors behind the Old Canal Days Heritage House Museum in St. Helena Heritage Park.

The boat was among the first canal boat reproductions created on the Ohio & Erie Canal. The plans for the boat were based on a scale model by W.J. McLaughlin, who encountered the St. Helena over the years working as a repairman at the McLaughlin Drydock. The St. Helena was one of the boats he remembered well - so well that he created a model of the boat in 1933 based on his memory of the boat. This model was used by C.M. Gantz to design the St. Helena II.

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  W.J. McLaughlin with his model of the St. Helena.

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  The original St. Helena canal boat.

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  Plans for the St. Helena II created by C.M. Gantz.

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  St. Helena II after being removed from the water via crane.

Building the Canal Boat

During the construction of the St. Helena II,

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