Lehigh Canal
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| Lehigh Canal | |
|---|---|
| (U.S. National Register of Historic Places) | |
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| Location: | Easton, Pennsylvania |
| Built/Founded: | 1827-1829 |
| Added to NRHP: | 1978-10-02 |
The Lehigh Canal was constructed to carry anthracite coal from the upper Lehigh Valley to Easton, Pennsylvania. With the discovery of large deposits of anthracite coal, the Lehigh Coal Mine Company was formed to transport the coal down the Lehigh River to the Delaware River and on to Philadelphia. By 1820, a system was created to ship the coal downstream.
The Lehigh Canal, designed by Canvass White, an engineer of New York's Erie Canal, was constructed between 1827 and 1829. The enlarged Lehigh Navigation extended 46 miles between Mauch Chunk, Pennsylvania (now know as Jim Thorpe) and Easton, with 52 locks, eight guard locks, eight dams and six aqueducts, allowing the waterway to overcome a difference in elevation of over 350 feet. The construction of the Morris Canal through New Jersey allowed the coal to be shipped more directly to New York City
During the 1830s, a 26-mile extension to White Haven, Pennsylvania, which included 20 dams and 29 locks, was constructed, overcing a difference in elevation of over 600 feet to Mauch Chunk.
In 1855, the canal reached its peak of more than one million tons of cargo. However, competition from railroads and the catastrophic flood of June 4, 1862, were all steps towards the canal's demise. The canal was used as a means of transportation until 1932, making it the last fully functioning towpath canal in North America. In 1962, most of it was sold to private and public organizations for recreational use.
Several segments of the canal are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
 Remains of Lock 25 in 2006 |
[edit] External links
- National Canal Museum: Lehigh Navigation
- Historic photos of the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Canal
- Delaware & Lehigh Canal State Heritage Corridor
- Lehigh Canal History
| Transportation Infrastructure of the Lehigh Valley | |
|---|---|
| East-West thru-highways | I-78 | US 22 | PA 248 |
| South-North thru-highways | Northeast Extension of the Pennsylvania Turnpike | PA 33 | PA 309 | PA 611 |
| Allentown Roads | PA 145 | PA 222 | PA 987 | Cedar Crest Boulevard | Lehigh Street | Tilghman Street |
| Bethlehem Roads | PA 378 | PA 412 | PA 512 | Bethlehem Pike |
| Other roads | US 222 | PA 29 | PA 100 | PA 143 | PA 191 | PA 329 | PA 873 | PA 946 |
| Public transportation | Lehigh and Northampton Transportation Authority |
| Airports | Lehigh Valley International Airport |
| Waterways & Rail | Lehigh Canal | Delaware Division of the Pennsylvania Canal | Norfolk Southern Railway |
