The Miami and Erie Canal made Cincinnati a major American city. While the canal increased Cincinnati's commerce, it also created typical new towns like Rialto, which grew out of special needs along the route of the canal. Rialto was typical of many smaller towns: one factory, one hope. A paper company built a one-story factory, water tower, a warehouse, and a dozen wooden houses for its workers in Rialto. Today, only one of four houses left in Rialto sits next to the empty canal. It's an unusual site for it looks as if a house was built next to a dried up river. The town is now the last outpost of the nineteenth century in Union Township. Submitted by Henry Chenoweth.