Manayunk Canal Locks 69 & 70

Manayunk Canal Locks 69 and 70. Schuylkill River National and State Heritage Area. , Manayunk Canal , The 1819 canal begins two miles upstream at Flat Rock Dam and ends here at Locks 69 and 70. It was part of a 108 mile system of canals, locks, dams, and slackwater pools built by the Schuylkill Navigation Company to transport goods and Schuylkill County anthracite coal. To move cargo, flat-bottomed boats were pulled by mule teams that walked a raised towpath located on the canal's river side. The canal also also provided water power that led to Manayunk's development as a nineteenth-century textile mill center., Locks 69 and 70 , These locks were rebuilt following their initial, low-quality construction. Boats entered the double lock and were dropped or raised over 24 feet. Once below the locks, mules were carried on boats and poled across the Schuylkill River to continue their journey. Later, a wooden mule towpath bridge was built, and subsequently replaced, by a bridge cantilevered from the railroad bridge., Decline of the Canal , The Schuylkill Navigation Company operated successfully, staving off its chief competitor, the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company, until 1870. With funds depleted by a devastating drought followed a catastrophic flood, its system was leased to the railroad. The construction of the iron truss bridge, the Venice Island rail spur, and the track over the original towpath reflect the canal's obsolescence. The present towpath was actually established in the 1970s.