courtesy Dept. of Conservation and Natural Resources
courtesy of the Friends of the Delaware Canal
During the 1800s, the American Industrial Revolution brought more immigrants,
businesses, and resource extraction to the Bucks County area. Pennsylvania
leaders looked to canals to provide better, faster, and cheaper transportation,
especially in transporting coal from the anthracite fields north of the
county. The sixty-mile Delaware Canal, along the Delaware River,
was constructed in 1832, linking Bristol to Easton and the Lehigh Canal.
Each year, over 4 million tons of coal were transported, along with such
goods as lumber, cement, and produce.
 courtesy
of the Friends of the Delaware Canal
Families working on the canals led tough lives. Their typical
day began at 4 a.m. to prepare the mule team, and lasted well past 10 p.m.
when the locks stopped operating. The mule powered boats traveled
approximately 30 miles per day. The canal drops 165 feet through
24 locks, and including the towpath and banks, the canal is 60 feet wide
and was originally 5 feet deep.
courtesy of Friends of the Delaware Canal
When railroads began to compete with canals for freight revenues, the
Commonwealth of PA decided to sell the Delaware Canal to the Lehigh Coal
and Navigation Company, who owned and operated the canal from 1866-1932.
When the railroad, oil heat, and trucking finally took over in the early
1930s, the canal was shut down and named the Roosevelt State Park by Pennsylvania
Governor Gifford Pichot. It was renamed the Delaware Canal State
Park in 1989. Today, it is preserved as the most intact and fully-watered
canal of America's towpath.
courtesy of Friends of the Delaware Canal
The canal is sufficiently close to Philadelphia
and Trenton, and the route is steeped in over 300 years of Pennsylvania
history. However, there are many portions of the canal where the
sounds of modern life are distant enough to give one a true feeling for
the primitive beauty that greeted the Lenape Indians and William Penn.
There are a number of pleasant hikes along the canal's towpath and one
can take a mule
barge ride in New Hope or drive the Delware River Scenic Drive along
route 32. |
