Roanoke Canal is a historic

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface ...

located near

Roanoke Rapids Roanoke Rapids () is a city in Halifax County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 15,229 at the 2020 census and is the largest community in Halifax County. It is the principal city of the Roanoke Rapids Micropolitan Statistical ...

Halifax County, North Carolina Halifax County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the population was 48,622. Its county seat is Halifax. Halifax County is part of the Roanoke Rapids, NC Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is ...

. It was built as part of the Roanoke Navigation System and extends from Roanoke Rapids Lake southeast seven miles to the canal's return into the

Roanoke River The Roanoke River ( ) runs long through southern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina in the United States. A major river of the southeastern United States, it drains a largely rural area of the coastal plain from the eastern edge of the ...

Weldon, North Carolina Weldon is a town in Halifax County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 1,655 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina Micropolitan Statistical Area. History In 1752, Daniel Weldon purchased 1,273 ac ...

. The Roanoke Navigation System was planned to connect the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Atlantic Ocean. The earliest sections were built under the direction of civil engineer

Hamilton Fulton Hamilton Fulton (26 May 1781 – 30 October 1833) was a Scottish civil engineer who worked for John Rennie and Thomas Telford before moving for a decade to the state of North Carolina as its principal engineer. Thereafter, he returned to Britain. ...

. Extant structures include the middle or lift locks, the aqueduct (1821-1823), and the three-story brick mill (1892) and powerhouse (c. 1904). It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1976.

References

External links

Roanoke Canal Museum and Trail
Canals on the National Register of Historic Places in North Carolina Buildings and structures in Halifax County, North Carolina National Register of Historic Places in Halifax County, North Carolina {{HalifaxCountyNC-NRHP-stub