Schuylkill Canal

Schuylkill Navigation Canal, Oakes Reach Section
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. Historic District
Oakes Reach of the Canal and Lock 60 during its restoration in 2004.
Nearest city:	Phoenixville, Pennsylvania
Coordinates:	40°07′57″N 75°30′09.5″W / 40.1325°N 75.502639°W / 40.1325; -75.502639
Area:	155.3 acres (62.8 ha)
Architect:	Oakes,Thomas
Governing body:	State
Added to NRHP:	May 06, 1988
NRHP Reference#:	88000462 [1]

Schuylkill Canal is the popular, but technically inaccurate, name for the Schuylkill Navigation, a 19th century commercial waterway in and along the Schuylkill River in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The "canal" was actually a system of interconnected man made canals and slack water pools in the river, which is called a navigation. The Schuylkill Navigation System opened in 1825 to provide transportation and water power. At the time, the river was the cheapest and most efficient method of transporting bulk cargo. As a result of this improved transportation, anthracite coal-mining grew as the major source of industry between Pottsville and Eastern markets. Mules pulled barges of coal from Port Carbon to Pottsville; to the ports of Philadelphia; and, continuing through additional waterways, to New York City markets.

The canal eventually declined due to the rise of the rail road, and was almost completely filled in the 1950s. The two remaining watered reaches are now used for recreation.

History

Schuylkill Canal (starting at Philadelphia) with other US canals of 1825

The Schuylkill Navigation Company was chartered in 1815 to build a series of navigation improvements in the Schuylkill River. A waterway of 108 miles (174 km) was completed in 1827 linking Philadelphia to Port Carbon in the anthracite coal fields or the Coal Region of Pottsville. Combining 62 miles (100 km) of separate canals, often referred to as "reaches", with 46 miles (74 km) of slack water pools, the Schuylkill Navigation used 92 lift locks to overcome a difference of 588 feet (179 m) in elevation between its terminal points. The Union Canal, built between 1821 and 1828, connected with the Schuylkill Canal at Reading; the two canals combined to make a water link between Philadelphia and the Susquehanna River at Middletown. This route competed with and became secondary to the east–west divisions of the Pennsylvania Canal on the Main Line of Public Works between Philadelphia, Harrisburg, and Pittsburgh. The Schuylkill Canal also featured the first transportation tunnel in America.^[2] The Auburn Tunnel, a 450 foot (137 m) bore through a hill near Auburn, was completed in 1821, but due to increased traffic, canal modifications turned it into an open cut by 1857.^[3]

Due to its ability to transport bulk cargoes and provide water power, the Schuylkill Navigation transformed the towns of Reading, Norristown, and Pottsville into early manufacturing centers. By using the Delaware River and the Delaware and Raritan Canal, manufactured products and anthracite from the Schuylkill Valley could also reach New York Harbor. The Schuylkill Navigation system quickly assumed a monopoly position in the transportation of anthracite coal from the coal mines of Schuylkill County to Philadelphia. By 1841 the Schuylkill Navigation was annually transporting over 737,517 tons of cargo. However, in 1841 the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad was completed as a competing means of transporting coal from the Schuylkill anthracite fields to Philadelphia. A rivalry between these two forms of transportation soon developed.

Competition with the railroad

By 1845 the railroad was able to haul three times as much anthracite to Philadelphia each year as the Schuylkill Navigation. To counter this threat, the Schuylkill Navigation Company began a major expansion program. By 1847 the canals had been enlarged to allow the passage of boats carrying 230 tons of coal. In 1850 a price fixing arrangement with the railroad stabilized prices for the transportation of anthracite. This decade was the Schuylkill Navigation's most prosperous period, transporting 1,700,000 tons of cargo during the peak year of 1859. However, in that same year the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad carried over 2,500,000 tons.

Decline

During the 1860s the canal entered a period of decline. In 1869 it was damaged by a flood. Surrendering to the competition in 1870, the Schuylkill Navigation Company leased its waterway to the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad for a period of 979 years. Under the railroad's control, the Schuylkill Navigation continued to decline. Since the Delaware and Raritan Canal was owned by the competing Pennsylvania Railroad, Schuylkill boats were denied access to this important New Jersey waterway. As a result, traffic on the Schuylkill decreased rapidly. By 1890 only 144,994 tons of cargo passed through the Schuylkill Navigation. The Schuylkill Navigation was also greatly hindered by the problems of coal silt deposits which made its upper sections almost unusable. By 1891 the portion of Navigation above Port Clinton was abandoned. By 1904 the anthracite traffic had almost completely ceased, and after 1913 only an occasional cargo passed between Port Clinton and Philadelphia. Excursion vessels and pleasure boating remained active on the Schuylkill Navigation until most of the canals were filled by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania during 1947–1979 in efforts to remove coal silt from the Schuylkill River.

Chester County Canal

The Chester County Canal, also known as the Phoenixville Branch Canal,^[4] was an addition to the Navigation built by the Schuylkill Navigation Company in 1828 to provide water power to a new nail works in Phoenixville. The new canal connected the slackwater pool of the Schuylkill Canal above the Black Rock Dam to Phoenixville. This canal paralleled the top end of the Oakes Reach, on the opposite side or the river. While the Chester County Canal was initially built to provide water power to the mill, in 1847 it carried scheduled passenger service between Phoenixville and Norristown.^[5] The spring freshet of 1869 destroyed the mill "and very much injured the canal and its locks."^[6]

The Navigation in the present day

Functional Lock 60 gates and bridge after their 2004-5 restoration.

Canal aqueduct over Crossman's Run, near Oaks

While many of the dams remain, there are two watered stretches of the canal still in existence. Some 2.5 miles (4.0 km) of the 3.5 miles (5.6 km) long Oakes Reach between Oaks and Mont Clare and a 1 mile (1.6 km) stretch in Manayunk.

Oakes Reach

The head of the Oakes Reach is at the Black Rock Dam (Dam #26), near Mont Clare. The canal passes through the dam structure at Lock #60. The volunteer Schuylkill Canal Association has restored Lock 60 to operating condition [1]. The nearby locktender's house has also been restored [2]. The Reach runs under Pennsylvania Route 29 in Mont Clare, directly across the river from Phoenixville, then through Port Providence. An impounding basin from the silt removal project cuts the canal after Longford Road and the final mile of the Reach, has been filled in. An old stone aqueduct, that carried the Canal over Crossman's Run, and the Locktender's House are still existent; but Lock 61, Brower's Lock, was filled in.

This reach is named for Thomas Oakes, chief engineer of the Schuylkill Navigation Company. The Oakes Reach canal, locks, locktenders' houses, Black Rock Dam, and the slackwater pool extending up to the Pennsylvania Route 113 bridge form the "Schuylkill Navigation Canal, Oakes Reach Section" historic district.

• Lock 60 40°08′42″N 75°30′28″W / 40.145°N 75.50778°W / 40.145; -75.50778 (Lock 60)
• Present end of reach 40°07′42″N 75°28′57″W / 40.12833°N 75.4825°W / 40.12833; -75.4825 (Oakes Reach - present south end)
• Lock 61 Tender's House 40°07′34.6″N 75°27′40.9″W / 40.126278°N 75.461361°W / 40.126278; -75.461361 (Lock 61 Tender's House)

Manayunk Reach

The head of the Manayunk Reach is at the Flat Rock Dam (Dam #31), near Shawmont. The canal passes through the dam structure at Lock #68. This stretch of canal forms the northern side of Venice Island, which is facing develoment pressures. At the downstream end of this reach, the canal runs through Manayunk and returns to the river via Locks 69 & 70. All three lock structures still exist.

• Lock 68 40°02′17″N 75°14′40″W / 40.03806°N 75.24444°W / 40.03806; -75.24444 (Lock 68)
• Locks 69&70 40°01′21″N 75°13′11″W / 40.0225°N 75.21972°W / 40.0225; -75.21972 (Locks 69 & 70)

Schuylkill River Trail

The Schuylkill River Trail (SRT) now overlays portions of the canal route. In Manayunk, the Trail uses the canal towpath.

In 2008 the extension of the Schuylkill River Trail from the Perkiomen Creek to Longford Road in Oaks opened. This length of the Trail makes use of the general course of the filled portion of the Oakes Reach and originally used the old canal aqueduct to cross Crossman's Run. On 14 February 2008, a meeting was held to announce the survey work for the extension of the Schuylkill River Trail along the towpath of the watered portion of the Oakes Reach. It is expected that the towpath restoration itself will commence around March 2009.^[7]

See also

• List of canals in the United States

References

External links

• Schuylkill Navigation History, description and list of locks, dams, and reaches
• Historical Berks county and the Schuylkill Canal
• Lower Schuylkill River canal
• Historical pictures of the Schuylkill Canal
• Schuylkill Navigation Maps at Reading Area Community College
• Upper Schuylkill River canal
• Friends of the Manayunk Canal - Manayunk Reach
• Schuylkill Canal Association - Oak[e]s Reach
• PA Historical Marker and information
• NRHP Registration Form for Oakes Reach - Use search form on PA ARCH site for additional images

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