Miami-Erie Canal in Downtown Dayton

From the image below, you can see that the Miami-Erie Canal flowed southwest, but there was also a branch called the Basin Extension that ran west for several blocks before turning south along what is now Patterson Boulevard.  It's along this south stretch that the northernmost block of the Canal Parkway, just west of where Fifth-Third Field is located.  It includes a tribute to the waterway that connected the western parts of Ohio, from Lake Erie to the Ohio River.  That included the construction of Grand Lake St. Marys, Indian Lake, Lake Loramie and others to provide water during dry periods. 

https://balancedgrowth.ohio.gov/Portals/0/BLLUP/Case%20Studies%202013/Patterson%20Blvd_sm.pdf