ML080850099

Berwick Historical Society, a Short Canal History.

ML080850099
Person / Time
Site:	Susquehanna
Issue date:	01/17/2008
From:	- No Known Affiliation
To:	Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation
References
TAC MD3021, TAC MD3022
Download: ML080850099 (1)

Text

Future Events and Features g~: ~ 2 ~> A Short Canal-History~~.

Construction of the North Branch Canal was &ipleted ln 1826,,extending Pennsylvaniia'sCanal system thro-ugh Montour, Columnbia and Luzerne Counties Completinig the caInencompassed far more than ...n. '" wh1ich thie'boats -would travel. Locks were~ built to lift -and lower boats between sections oft the canal with different e a Weigh stations were built for tile eighing of canal boats to assess theproper tolls for canal use. Basins were'dig where boats could tietip and be rpaired.quteducts were required tocarry thecanal over rivers And equally important, t to -path was constructed along the entire length of the canal for the horses and mules that pulled-the Lumber and anthracitewhich abounded in the region but were largely worthless withoutefficient transportation to markets elsewhere, provided the initial incentive tobimild the canal for the movement of freight. Quickly, however, the popularity of moving passe~ngers on the canal freight boats inraeuntil, the, first boat dlesigned exclusively for passenger-travel lwas built. Named Gertrude, the boatwas pulled by six large horses and made its first voyage on a peaceful afternoon in 1835.-.Even, though the 24-mile'trip on the-canal was slow, a mere 6 mph,the route's beautiful m.ountain scenery,:

and the~excellent accommrodations on board the boats (by-the~ standards of thtd-) rwmany travelers to ejy a feno ifi,-ydee on 'st.enjoyan afterno picnic,,which usually included libations of a spiritus character.

There were no DUI checkpoints on the canal.As wh8osha ,c e kiy. ,se lin~wewiu~ypesrs tfre ytenowentied n~sm As the 1880s came to-aclose, hf ever, tiaffic on the-canlbean'toldecline.

It ...apparent that the-s:'e'<', travelers n by thehigh speed I : t Aure ..... te on th railroads.

Faced with conpetition fromthe Pennsylania Railroads Wilkes-Barre, Hazleton & Susnbury divisionon th-soiiih side of the Susquelianna River, and the Delare S tn to Northumberland branch on the.present hShore Raioad), this chapter in Pnsylvaniatransportatio history-came~toa close&oif sunny spring morning on April 11, 1901, when the final voyage .was made between Nanticoke and Bloomsburg.

2 Thereafter, the North Branch Canal wa4fiilyaadnd http://www.berwickhistoricalsociety.org/events.html (3 of 4)01/17/2008 5:07:28 PM