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Section of the Delaware Canal
as it appears today
Photograph from National Historic Landmarks collection |
The National Park Service's
National Register of Historic Places, the Delaware & Lehigh
National Heritage Corridor (a National Heritage Area affiliated
with the National Park Service), the Pennsylvania Historical
and Museum Commission, Steamtown National Historic Site, the
National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers
(NCSHPO), and the National Alliance of Preservation Commissions
(NAPC) extend their invitation to you to explore the Delaware
and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor, featuring historic
places in and near eastern Pennsylvania's canal and coal region.
Stretching 150 miles from Bristol to Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania,
the Delaware & Lehigh National Heritage Corridor follows
the routes of the Delaware Canal, the Lehigh Navigation System,
and the Lehigh & Susquehanna Railroad. This travel itinerary
explores 47 places listed in the National Register of Historic
Places that illustrate the history of this extraordinary 19th-century
transportation system--the backbone of the Corridor--mountain
railroads, rivers, dams and canals, devised to move anthracite
from mine to market.
The anthracite coal industry began here. Because of the industry's
unprecedented scale, the Corridor became the scene of numerous
technological and commercial innovations that transformed
the landscape. The Corridor contains the only historic system
of the Industrial Revolution that integrated anthracite mining
and resource extraction, canals and railroads, commerce, agriculture,
and industry. So efficient was this system that the Delaware
and Lehigh Canals were the longest- and last-operated towpath
canals in America; commercial navigation continued until 1942.
The Corridor contains scenic rivers, mines and company mining
towns, canals and canal towns, railroads, the historic industries
nourished by the availability of fuel and transportation, towns
and cities that grew around them, and a distinctive social and
religious heritage. More than 50 different ethnic groups settled
here, including people of Czech, German, Italian, African American,
Welsh, and Irish descent. The Corridor includes10 National Historic
Landmarks, six National Recreation Trails, two National Natural
Landmarks, and hundreds of sites listed in the National Register
of Historic Places, as well as seven state parks, three state
historical sites, 14 state scenic rivers, and 14 state game
lands. Included in the itinerary are nearby historic places
in Scranton, Pennsylvania, including one National Historic Landmark,
and six National Register of Historic Places sites related to
Scranton's history as a transportation hub of eastern Pennsylvania.
While outside the Heritage Corridor, Scranton's proximity and
rich historic offerings, including Steamtown, with its history
of railroad transportation and steam engines and rail cars in
use and on exhibit, enrich the visitor's understanding and enjoyment
of eastern Pennsylvania's role in the nation's history.
This itinerary focuses on the variety of historic districts,
buildings, and structures that comprise the coal and canal
region of eastern Pennsylvania. The earliest European settlements
are recognized in such places as the Old
Waterworks in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and the Central
Bethlehem Historic District, which tells the story of
the Moravians, early German settlers, who founded the town
between 1741 and 1844. Washington Crossing
State Park honors our first President's crossing of the
Delaware River during the Revolutionary War and surprising
the British German mercenaries in a desperate hour of the
American Revolution. The history of the canal can be seen
in such places as the Lehigh Canal,
the Delaware Canal, and the Easton
Historic District.
The region's 19th-century industrialization can be seen at the
Coplay Cement Company Kilns in Coplay,
Pennsylvania, where portland cement was produced. The Lehigh
Valley Silk Mills in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, the Lock
Ridge Furnace Complex, in Alburtis, Pennsylvania, and the
Grundy Mill Complex in Bristol also reflect
the industrialization of the region. History of mining and labor
can be found at the Lackawanna Iron and Coal
Company Furnace and Lackawanna County
Courthouse and John Mitchell Monument, both in Scranton,
Pennsylvania. Scranton also is home to Steamtown
National Historic Site, where the region's rail and train
history is told. Visitors can also tour the fascinating buildings
of Dr. Henry C. Mercer, which include his tool museum, the Mercer
Museum, in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, the Moravian
Pottery & Tile Works and Fonthill,
monuments to the eclectic architectural vision of the man and
his legacy. Twentieth-century history is reflected in the Honey
Hollow Watershed, where land conservation efforts were put
in place to halt the erosion of valuable farm soil, and the
Pearl S. Buck or Green Hills Farm (Pearl S.
Buck House), where the author of "The Good Earth"
lived and wrote.
The Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor
offers numerous ways to discover the historic places that
played important roles in eastern Pennsylvania's past. Each
property features a brief description of the place's significance,
color and historic photographs, and public accessibility information.
At the bottom of each page the visitor will find a navigation
bar containing links to four essays that explain more about
the Delaware and Lehigh Regions,
Canal History, Scranton
and the Railroad, and Establishing
the Heritage Corridor. These essays provide historic background,
or "contexts," for many of the places included in the itinerary.
The itinerary can be viewed online, or printed out if you
plan to visit eastern Pennsylvania in person.
One of the historic engines
now housed at Steamtown National Historic Site
Photograph from National Register collection |
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Created through a partnership between the National Park Service's
National Register of Historic Places, the Delaware & Lehigh
National Heritage Corridor, the Pennsylvania Historical and
Museum Commission, Steamtown National Historic Site, NCSHPO,
and NAPC, the Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor
is an example of a new and exciting cooperative project. As
part of the Department of the Interior's strategy to revitalize
communities by promoting public awareness of history and encouraging
tourists to visit historic places throughout the nation, the
National Register of Historic Places is cooperating with communities,
regions and Heritage Areas throughout the United States to create
online travel itineraries. Using places listed in the National
Register of Historic Places, the itineraries help potential
visitors plan their next trip by highlighting the amazing diversity
of the country's historic places and supplying accessibility
information for each featured site. In the Learn
More section, the itineraries link to regional and local
web sites that provide visitors with further information regarding
cultural events, special activities, lodging and dining possibilities
as well as histories of the region, should they want to explore
further. Visitors may be intersted in Historic
Hotels of America, a program of the National Trust for Historic
Preservation, located in the Delaware & Lehigh National
Heritage Corridor.
The Delaware and Lehigh National Heritage Corridor
is the eighth of more than 30 organizations working directly
with the National Register of Historic Places to create travel
itineraries. Additional itineraries will debut online in the
future. The National Register of Historic Places, the Delaware
& Lehigh National Heritage Corridor, the Pennsylvania
Historical and Museum Commission and the staff at the Steamtown
National Historic Site hope you enjoy this virtual travel
itinerary of eastern Pennsylvania's historic places. If you
have comments or questions, please just click on the provided
e-mail address, "comments or questions" located at the bottom
of each page. |