What Is the Towpath?

Long before Morris had a Main Street, it had a canal. The Illinois & Michigan (I&M) Canal opened in 1848, linking the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River and creating towns such as Morris as stops along a vital trade route. Mules and horses towed boats loaded with grain, lumber and goods down the waterway, walking not on the water, but alongside it, on a narrow dirt path called the towpath.

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The towpath still runs right past our doors. Today, it's part of the I&M Canal Heritage Corridor Trail, drawing cyclists, hikers and history lovers through Morris and the surrounding canal towns. It's the same ground once walked by hoggees and lockmasters, and it's what gave our store its name.

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Towpath Books sits at the intersection of that history and the present-day life of downtown Morris: It's a place to pause on the trail, browse a shelf and connect with the story of the canal that shaped this town.