Roanoke Canal Trail and Museum

project type: fabrication , graphics , museums

The growth of the railroad helped spell the end of canals for navigation in the United States. Other industries such as textile mills and power generation took over and put the moving water to use. Artifacts and images donated by local residents help tell the story of life along the river. Wildlife and its conservation plays a major role on the Roanoke River. The story of the striped bass, or Rockfish, is a great example of sportsmen, environmentalists, state and local government and private citizens coming together to help protect and prom A diorama and step by step graphic help to explain to visitors how canals locks can raise and lower boats along the canal. The touchscreen video interactive to the left gives visitors a chance to operate the locks and move the boat through. The children's area in the museum features a large colorful mural painted by the high schoolers, a magnet board, chalkboard, and large foam and fabric archway stacking blocks. Kids can also ''fish'' for fabric striped bass off a miniature aqueduct. At each entry point to the trail, a large orientation kiosk gives a historical overview, local points of interest and rules of the trail on one side, and a detailed map of the trail on the other. The large roofed kiosks were drawn and detailed for constru These directional signs along the trail feature milage measurements to points of interest and a reiteration of the map with a Used by hikers, families, runners and bikers alike, the mileage markers along the Canal Trail are quite useful. The Canal Trail brochure is available at highway rest stops and visitor centers. It not only informs people about the trail, but also helps to set the graphic look and feel that visitors will encounter along the trail.

Located along the Roanoke River, Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina was once bustling with the transportation of goods from east to west along this crucial water route and on the canal that circumvented the rapids there. Now a nature trail and museum, the site tells the story of how the uses of the canal, the town and surrounding areas have evolved over the years.

Housed in a former electric power generation station adjacent to the canal locks, the museum walks visitors through the story of how the canals came to be, why they were needed and how they worked. With a series of colorful graphic panels, vignettes and period artifacts the exhibits detail the life and the eventual decline of the canal, and the growth of the towns and modern commerce in the region.
The wildlife of the Roanoke valley is also depicted as well as the story of the ever-popular striped bass. Every spring, thousands of anglers come to the area to try to catch one of these migrating beauties. Visitors to the museum also enjoy a “Voices and Viewpoints” oral history audio-visual piece, where local folks tell their stories of life along the river. And kids have their own children’s area with a chalk board, canal building blocks and a fishing interactive game.

Outside, the canal trail is a seven and a half mile long nature trail that runs along the old canal tow path. The trail is dotted with remnants of the canal’s history, the centerpiece of which is the Chockoyotte Creek Aqueduct, a magnificently preserved hand cut stone arch that carried the canal over the creek. Orientation, wayfinding and directional signage guide visitors on the trail and to each of the sites along the way. The overall strategy of the design was to approach the Canal Trail as a seven and a half mile long museum — a green “necklace” with each site such as the bulkhead, the power generation station and the aqueduct as “jewels” along the necklace.

The Roanoke Canal Trail and Museum is also a great example of community involvement in the design process, fabrication and ultimate success of the project. The local community, especially middle school and high school kids took part in a series of workshops early in the process and continued their involvement through the installation of the museum and signage. The middle school science classes helped to research and generate content for the trailside interpretation, providing visitors with a wealth of information on the ecology, plants and animals along the trail. The high school art classes created colorful graphics depicting the history and animals along the trail that are used on billboards, public murals, the children’s area in the museum and on the trailside interpretive signage. And the high school drafting and industrial arts classes helped design, draw, build and install the kiosks and signage carriers along the trail.