Central Canal/Canal Walk remnant of 19th‑century canal plan

The Central Canal was begun under the Mammoth Internal Improvement Act of 1836 but construction was halted after the state's financial crisis, leaving the canal incomplete compared with original plans. A restored section runs through White River State Park as the Canal Walk, a man‑made urban waterway separate from the White River. The canal's presence through downtown is a surviving, unusual artifact of 19th‑century canal-era planning in an inland Midwestern capital.