The Delaware Division of the Pennsylvania Canal, more commonly called the Delaware Canal, runs for parallel to the
right bank
In geography, a bank is the land alongside a body of water. Different structures are referred to as ''banks'' in different fields of geography, as follows.
In limnology (the study of inland waters), a stream bank or river bank is the terrai ...
of the
Delaware River
The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock (village), New York, Hancock, New York, the river flows for along the borders of N ...
from the entry locks near the mouth of the
Lehigh River
The Lehigh River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 1, 2011 tributary of the Delaware River in eastern Pennsylvania. The river flows in a generally southward pat ...
and terminal end of the
Lehigh Canal
The Lehigh Canal, or the Lehigh Navigation Canal, is a navigable canal that begins at the mouth of Nesquehoning Creek on the Lehigh River in eastern Pennsylvania. It was built in two sections over a span of twenty years, beginning in 1818. The low ...
at
Easton south to
Bristol
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
. At Easton, which today is the home of
The National Canal Museum, the Delaware Canal also connected with the
Morris Canal
The Morris Canal (1829–1924) was a common carrier anthracite coal canal across northern New Jersey that connected the two industrial canals at Easton, Pennsylvania across the Delaware River from its western terminus at Phillipsburg, New Jers ...
built to carry
anthracite coal
Anthracite, also known as hard coal, and black coal, is a hard, compact variety of coal that has a submetallic luster. It has the highest carbon content, the fewest impurities, and the highest energy density of all types of coal and is the high ...
to energy-starved
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
industries.
Later, with a crossing-lock constructed at
New Hope, the New Hope 'outlet lock' (1847) connected by Cable Ferry to enter at Lambertville, NJ; where it connected to a feeder navigation/canal that began at Bull's Island opposite
Lumberville; which then ran over south along the New Jersey bank of the Delaware River through
Trenton to
Bordentown, the west end of the
Delaware and Raritan Canal
The Delaware and Raritan Canal (D&R Canal) is a canal in central New Jersey, built in the 1830s, that served to connect the Delaware River to the Raritan River. It was an efficient and reliable means of transportation of freight between Philadel ...
(1834) to New York City via
New Brunswick
New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...
.
The
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Maryl ...
built the Delaware canal to feed anthracite stone coal to energy-hungry
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
as part of its transportation infrastructure building plan known as the
Main Line of Public Works
The Main Line of Public Works was a package of legislation passed by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in 1826 to establish a means of transporting freight between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. It funded the construction of various long-proposed can ...
—a legislative initiative creating a collection of self-reinforcing
internal improvements
Internal improvements is the term used historically in the United States for public works from the end of the American Revolution through much of the 19th century, mainly for the creation of a transportation infrastructure: roads, turnpikes, canal ...
to commercial transportation capabilities.
The Delaware Canal, like the Lehigh Canal, was primarily meant to carry anthracite coal and other bulk goods such as
gravel
Gravel is a loose aggregation of rock fragments. Gravel occurs naturally throughout the world as a result of sedimentary and erosive geologic processes; it is also produced in large quantities commercially as crushed stone.
Gravel is classifi ...
and
limestone
Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms whe ...
,
cement
A cement is a binder, a chemical substance used for construction that sets, hardens, and adheres to other materials to bind them together. Cement is seldom used on its own, but rather to bind sand and gravel ( aggregate) together. Cement mix ...
, and
lumber
Lumber is wood that has been processed into dimensional lumber, including beams and planks or boards, a stage in the process of wood production. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, wi ...
—from northeastern Pennsylvania to Philadelphia. In reverse flow, the two canals carried manufactured goods,
iron
Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in f ...
products and (a few decades later)
steel
Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...
products to the northeastern cities. The Delaware and Lehigh Canals also connected from Easton by ferry services across the Delaware River to
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
and the
Delaware and Raritan Canal
The Delaware and Raritan Canal (D&R Canal) is a canal in central New Jersey, built in the 1830s, that served to connect the Delaware River to the Raritan River. It was an efficient and reliable means of transportation of freight between Philadel ...
, connecting industrial loads to
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
.
First opened in 1832, the Delaware Canal still has most of its original locks, aqueducts, and overflows.
Although the two canals reached their peak shipping in 1855, after which coal transport down the Lehigh corridor was taken up increasingly by railroads, the canals stayed in operation until the
Great Depression
The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
in the early 1930s. According to the
National Park Service
The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational propertie ...
, it was the "longest-lived canal in the country".
History
The
Pennsylvania Canal system
The Pennsylvania Canal (or sometimes Pennsylvania Canal system) was a complex system of transportation infrastructure improvements including canals, dams, locks, tow paths, aqueducts, and viaducts. The Canal and Works were constructed and assemb ...
was spurred by the early success of the
Erie Canal
The Erie Canal is a historic canal in upstate New York that runs east-west between the Hudson River and Lake Erie. Completed in 1825, the canal was the first navigable waterway connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes, vastly reducing t ...
in
New York State
New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. stat ...
, which had opened in 1825. Construction on the Delaware Canal started in 1829, accomplished entirely with hand tools using primarily imported labor from
Ireland
Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...
.
The canal runs down a channel dug parallel to the
Delaware River
The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock (village), New York, Hancock, New York, the river flows for along the borders of N ...
from
Easton to
Bristol, Pennsylvania
Bristol is a borough in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located northeast of Center City Philadelphia, opposite Burlington, New Jersey on the Delaware River. It antedates Philadelphia, being settled in 1681 and first incorporat ...
; its line of travel is generally within sight of the river. Originally in length, the canal is approximately wide
[ with a depth of about .
After the original construction failed in 1830, it had to be re-engineered by ]Josiah White
Josiah White (1781–1850) was a Pennsylvania industrialist and key figure in the American Industrial Revolution.
Career
White began early factory-centered mill production in 1808 in water powered ironworks near Philadelphia, along with his part ...
of the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company
The Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company (LCAN) (1988–2010) was a modern-day anthracite coal mining company headquartered in Pottsville, Pennsylvania. It acquired many properties and relaunched the Lehigh Coal Companies brand in 1988. The LCAN r ...
, who had offered to engineer and build the Delaware Canal for a break in fees in 1824. The state sold the canal to the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company in 1858.
The Delaware Canal took over the easy part of the journey for the coal barges transiting down the rapids strewn path of the Lehigh Valley from Mauch Chunk
Jim Thorpe is a borough and the county seat of Carbon County in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. It is part of Northeastern Pennsylvania. It is historically known as the burial site of Native American sports legend Jim Thorpe.
Jim Thorpe is ...
and the heights of Nesquehoning, Pennsylvania
Nesquehoning is a borough in Carbon County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of Northeastern Pennsylvania. The population was 3,336 at the 2020 census.
Nesquehoning was established as a result of the nthracite coal mining industry. It w ...
and the huge coal fields that connected beyond them.
Millions of tons of coal traveled from Wilkes-Barre
Wilkes-Barre ( or ) is a city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Luzerne County. Located at the center of the Wyoming Valley in Northeastern Pennsylvania, it had a population of 44,328 in the 2020 census. It is the secon ...
down the Lehigh Valley transportation infrastructure, then finished the journey on the Delaware Canal's barges.
But competition from the railroad
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
led to a decline in barge traffic. By the 1920s, anthracite coal was waning as a source of fuel. The last commercial through traffic traveled the canal in October 1931 and the bankrupt Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company sold the canal back to the state for a nominal fee.
In 1933, a private group called The Delaware Valley Protective Association (DVPA) was founded to protect the canal as a historic asset. The DVPA persuaded the state to resume maintenance of the canal in 1940, when its towpath became Theodore Roosevelt State Park. The berms were restored and the canal was refilled with water.
Through the 1940s and 1950s, the canal was left mostly untouched. In the early 1960s, however, Pennsylvania officials explored plans to pave over the canal and create a road for cars. Local residents fought for the canal's protection. In 1964, Bucks County
Bucks County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 646,538, making it the fourth-most populous county in Pennsylvania. Its county seat is Doylestown. The county is named after the English ...
historian and DVPA member Willis M. Rivinus
Willis M. Rivinus is an author, preservation activist and historian whose interests center on the Delaware Canal and Bucks County, Pennsylvania.
Books
Among the guides and books Rivinus has written and edited are ''Guide to the Delaware Canal'' ...
wrote the first ''Guide to the Delaware Canal'' to call attention to the canal's value.
Through the 1960s and 1970s, the DVPA and other influential citizens sought to secure federal landmark status to protect the Canal. In 1974, the Canal was placed on the National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
. In 1976, it was designated a National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...
, helping to guarantee its preservation. The towpath itself was named an official National Recreation Trail.
In 1988, the U.S. government created the Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor
The Delaware & Lehigh Canal National and State Heritage Corridor (D&L) is a National Heritage Area in eastern Pennsylvania in the United States. It stretches from north to south, across five counties and over one hundred municipalities. It follow ...
, covering a 165-mile north-south swath of eastern Pennsylvania that includes the Delaware Canal. In 1989, Theodore Roosevelt State Park was renamed Delaware Canal State Park
Delaware Canal State Park is a Pennsylvania state park in Bucks and Northampton Counties in Pennsylvania. The main attraction of the park is the Delaware Canal which runs parallel to the Delaware River between Easton and Bristol.
The Delawar ...
.
However, public funding for the canal often has been inadequate and, as in other parts of the country, private non-profit groups have been created to fill the void. In 1983, Bucks County resident Betty Orlemann organized the Friends of the Delaware Canal (FODC), now the canal's largest fund-raising and volunteer group. (The DVPA no longer exists). Under long-time executive director Susan Taylor, the FODC also functions as a watchdog group, ensuring goals are met to make the towpath trail walkable over its entire length and to eventually get the canal fully watered from Easton to Bristol.
Portions of the Delaware Canal towpath were washed away or damaged during successive floods in 2004, 2005 and 2006. A number of sections of the towpath were closed and impassable, including a long stretch north of Washington Crossing and sections south of Riegelsville. In February 2008, a section of the towpath collapsed and of the canal lost water.
Through funds from the Federal Emergency Management Agency
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), initially created under President Jimmy Carter by Presidential Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1978 and implemented by two Exec ...
, the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources
The Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR), established on July 1, 1995, is the agency in the U.S. State of Pennsylvania responsible for maintaining and preserving the state's 124 state parks and 20 state forests; pr ...
(PA DCNR) currently is refurbishing the washed out sections of the canal. As of October 2009, according to Delaware Canal State Park manager Rick Dalton, 75 percent of the towpath had been restored and was expected to be fully walkable by summer 2010.
Engineering
At New Hope, engineers connected an undershot water wheel to another wheel with buckets, which lifted water from the Delaware River up into the canal using only the force of the river current.
A few hundred yards above, there was an outlet lock to the Delaware River, and on the other side of the river a lock to the Delaware and Raritan canal. To enable boats to cross the river, engineers devised a system whereby two cables of unequal length attached to wheels on a spanning cable across the river would hold a boat at a diagonal to the current, thereby acting as a sail
A sail is a tensile structure—which is made from fabric or other membrane materials—that uses wind power to propel sailing craft, including sailing ships, sailboats, windsurfers, ice boats, and even sail-powered land vehicles. Sails may ...
, pushing the boat across.
Mule Barge Tourist Ride
Mule-drawn barges, operated by private concessionaires, provided rides for chartered private parties running from a landing at Lock #11 at New Hope north to a point about above Centre Bridge, for a total one-way ride length of .
Tourist rides were also offered, however, they stopped in the vicinity of the Rabbit Run bridge, which carries PA 32 over the canal, about north of Lock #11. These rides were offered from approximately 1954 to 2006. Each boat could transport between 55 and 80 passengers and were pulled by two mules. Four boats, the ''Americana'' (painted red, white & blue), the ''Independence'', the ''Liberty'', and the ''Spirit of New Hope'' were used from the inauguration of the tourist ride until the 1997 season, when they were replaced by two new boats, the ''Molly Pitcher'' and the ''Myfanwy Jenkins'' (pronounced "Mivanway").
Since 1997, operation of the barges have been under regulations by the U.S. Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mul ...
(for example, steersmen are required to obtain a Master Mariner's license) and, if reopened, would face regulations imposed in 2009 on its sister operation on the Lehigh Canal
The Lehigh Canal, or the Lehigh Navigation Canal, is a navigable canal that begins at the mouth of Nesquehoning Creek on the Lehigh River in eastern Pennsylvania. It was built in two sections over a span of twenty years, beginning in 1818. The low ...
in Easton, PA by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security
The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior or home ministries of other countries. Its stated missions involve anti-terr ...
for crew members in "sensitive shipboard and dockside locations".The Morning Call
article on requirements by the Transportation Security Administration">The Morning Call">The Morning Call
article on requirements by the Transportation Security Administration]
See also
*
Lehigh Canal
The Lehigh Canal, or the Lehigh Navigation Canal, is a navigable canal that begins at the mouth of Nesquehoning Creek on the Lehigh River in eastern Pennsylvania. It was built in two sections over a span of twenty years, beginning in 1818. The low ...
– A sister canal in the Lehigh Valley that fed coal traffic to the Delaware Canal via a connection in
Easton, Pennsylvania
Easton is a city in, and the county seat of, Northampton County, Pennsylvania, United States. The city's population was 28,127 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Easton is located at the confluence of the Lehigh River, a river tha ...
.
*
Delaware and Raritan Canal
The Delaware and Raritan Canal (D&R Canal) is a canal in central New Jersey, built in the 1830s, that served to connect the Delaware River to the Raritan River. It was an efficient and reliable means of transportation of freight between Philadel ...
– A New Jersey canal connection to the New York & New Jersey markets shipping primarily coal across the Delaware River. The D&R also shipped Iron Ore from New Jersey up the Lehigh.
*
Chesapeake and Delaware Canal
The Chesapeake & Delaware Canal (C&D Canal) is a -long, -wide and -deep ship canal that connects the Delaware River with the Chesapeake Bay in the states of Delaware and Maryland in the United States.
In the mid‑17th century, mapmaker Augus ...
– A canal crossing the
Delmarva Peninsula
The Delmarva Peninsula, or simply Delmarva, is a large peninsula and proposed state on the East Coast of the United States, occupied by the vast majority of the state of Delaware and parts of the Eastern Shore regions of Maryland and Virginia ...
in the states of
Delaware
Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...
and
Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...
, connecting the
Chesapeake Bay
The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula (including the parts: the ...
with the
Delaware Bay
Delaware Bay is the estuary outlet of the Delaware River on the northeast seaboard of the United States. It is approximately in area, the bay's freshwater mixes for many miles with the saltwater of the Atlantic Ocean.
The bay is bordered inlan ...
.
*
Delaware and Hudson Canal
The Delaware and Hudson Canal was the first venture of the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company, which would later build the Delaware and Hudson Railway. Between 1828 and 1899, the canal's barges carried anthracite coal from the mines of northeaster ...
- Another early built coal canal as the American
canal age began; contemporary with the Lehigh and the Schuylkill
navigations
Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flow u ...
.
*
Schuylkill Canal - Navigation joining
Reading, PA
Reading ( ; Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Reddin'') is a city in and the county seat of Berks County, Pennsylvania, United States. The city had a population of 95,112 as of the 2020 census and is the fourth-largest city in Pennsylvania after Philadel ...
and Philadelphia.
Notes
References
*
Footnotes
External links
Delaware Canal PhotosPA DCNR Delaware Canal State ParkFriends of the Delaware Canal*
{{National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania
Canals in Pennsylvania
Historic American Engineering Record in Pennsylvania
National Historic Landmarks in Pennsylvania
Transportation buildings and structures in Northampton County, Pennsylvania
Transportation buildings and structures in Bucks County, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania state historical marker significations
Canals opened in 1832
Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania
National Register of Historic Places in Bucks County, Pennsylvania
Canals on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania
1832 establishments in Pennsylvania