The North Branch Division of the Pennsylvania Canal was a historic waterway that ran along the North Branch

Susquehanna River The Susquehanna River (; Lenape: Siskëwahane) is a major river located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, overlapping between the lower Northeast and the Upland South. At long, it is the longest river on the East Coast of the ...

between southern

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

and north-central

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, ...

. At its southern end, the canal connected with the West Branch Canal and the Susquehanna Division Canal at

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land on ...

, while on the north it connected with the

Junction Canal The Junction Canal was a canal in the states of New York and Pennsylvania in the United States. The canal was also called the Arnot Canal, after the name of its principal stockholder, John Arnot of Elmira, New York. History The canal was built a ...

and the New York canal system. Built between 1828 and 1856, the North Branch Canal was part of a large transportation network that included Pennsylvania's

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 ...

History

The first segment of was begun in 1828 and completed in 1831 to Nanticoke Falls. In 1834, a project called the

Wyoming Wyoming () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the south ...

Extension increased the canal's length by past

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 ...

Pittston Pittston is a city in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is situated between Scranton and Wilkes-Barre in Northeastern Pennsylvania. The city gained prominence in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as an active anthracite coal ...

. A final extension of from Pittston to the New York state line was started in 1836 and finished in 1856. The complete canal had a total of 43

locks Lock(s) may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainment * ''Lock ...

that overcame of elevation between its end points.Shank, pp. 51–52 The southern end was above sea level, and the northern end was at . The privately built

of linked the North Branch Canal to Elmira. There the Junction Canal connected with the

Chemung Canal The Chemung Canal is a former canal in New York, United States. The canal connected Seneca Lake at Watkins Glen to the Chemung River at Elmira, New York. It was planned to connect the Finger Lakes region and Pennsylvania's Susquehanna River wat ...

, which led north to Seneca Lake and 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 ...

. Through these connections, boats using the

Pennsylvania Canal 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 ...

system were able to travel as far as Buffalo and

Lake Champlain , native_name_lang = , image = Champlainmap.svg , caption = Lake Champlain-River Richelieu watershed , image_bathymetry = , caption_bathymetry = , location = New York/Vermont in the United States; and Quebec in Canada , coords = , type = , ...

. In 1858, the canal from Northampton Street in Wilkes-Barre to the state line was sold to the North Branch Canal Company, which in turn sold it to the

Lehigh Valley Railroad The Lehigh Valley Railroad was a railroad built in the Northeastern United States to haul anthracite coal from the Coal Region in Pennsylvania. The railroad was authorized on April 21, 1846 for freight and transportation of passengers, goods, w ...

in 1865. The railroad laid tracks along portions of the canal towpath and operated both until 1872, when it was authorized by the state legislature to close the canal.

Locks (first segment)

Chenango Extension

In 1863, the

New York Legislature The New York State Legislature consists of the two houses that act as the state legislature of the U.S. state of New York: The New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly. The Constitution of New York does not designate an official t ...

authorized construction of another canal, the

Chenango Canal The Chenango Canal was a towpath canal in central New York in the United States which linked the Susquehanna River to the Erie Canal. Built and operated in the mid-19th century, it was 97 miles long and for much of its course followed the Chenan ...

Extension, meant to run about along the North Branch Susquehanna River from

Binghamton, New York Binghamton () is a city in the U.S. state of New York, and serves as the county seat of Broome County. Surrounded by rolling hills, it lies in the state's Southern Tier region near the Pennsylvania border, in a bowl-shaped valley at the conflue ...

, to the Pennsylvania – New York border. The plans called for construction of an east–west crosscut canal linking the Chenango Canal Extension to the North Branch Canal, which followed the

Chemung River The Chemung River ( ) is a tributary of the Susquehanna River, approximately long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed August 8, 2011 in south central New York and northern ...

rather than the North Branch Susquehanna River north of Athens. Cost overruns, waning enthusiasm for canals, and funding delays led to abandonment of the project in 1872, after most of the work on the northern of the line had been completed. Beyond planning, no work had been done on the southernmost when the project ended.

Remnants

Susquehanna Riverlands in Salem Township, south of Wilkes-Barre, has of river walking path and filled canal owned and managed by Pennsylvania Power and Light Company. Lock No. 1 and a section of the original North Branch Canal in Northumberland were intact in 1986 as was Lock No. 2 below Bloomsburg. Occasional sections of canal bed remained between

Shickshinny Shickshinny is a borough in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 630 at the 2020 census. The borough is named after Shickshinny Creek, which runs through the municipality and the surrounding area. According to the book ...

and West Nanticoke, and the West Nanticoke guard lock was intact. Canal bed was visible from the

Lackawanna River The Lackawanna River is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed August 8, 2011 tributary of the Susquehanna River in Northeastern Pennsylvania. It flows through a region of th ...

toward

Ransom Ransom is the practice of holding a prisoner or item to extort money or property to secure their release, or the sum of money involved in such a practice. When ransom means "payment", the word comes via Old French ''rançon'' from Latin ''red ...

and largely intact above Vosburg between Lackawanna Campground and Horse Race Falls. At Laceyville a museum known as the Oldest House was once a lockkeeper's house. Other remnants such as crib work, canal embankments, iron spikes, and timbers could be found here and there along the full length of the canal.Petrillo (1986), pp. 237–242

Points of interest

Notes and references

;Notes ;References

Works cited

* Petrillo, F. Charles (1986). ''Anthracite and Slackwater: The North Branch Canal 1828–1901''. Easton, Pennsylvania: Center for Canal History and Technology. . * Shank, William H. (1986). ''The Amazing Pennsylvania Canals, 150th Anniversary Edition''. York, Pennsylvania: American Canal and Transportation Center. . * Whitford, Nobel E., and Beal, Minnie M. (1906). ''History of the Canal System of the State of New York Together with Brief Histories of the Canals of the United States and Canada''
"Chapter 18: The Chenango Canal Extension"
Albany, New York: Brandow Printing Company. . Retrieved March 21, 2010.

External links

American Canal Society

{{GeoGroupTemplate Canals in Pennsylvania Canals opened in 1856 Transportation buildings and structures in Bradford County, Pennsylvania Transportation buildings and structures in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania Transportation buildings and structures in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania Transportation buildings and structures in Columbia County, Pennsylvania Transportation buildings and structures in Montour County, Pennsylvania