The Crosswicks Creek "Trestle Vessel"

The Crosswicks Creek "Trestle Vessel". . , Chartered simultaneously in 1830, the Camden and Amboy (C&A) Railroad and the Delaware and Raritan Canal formed one of New Jersey's most significant early transportation networks. The D&R was one of this country's busiest navigation systems for nearly 100 year. Its relationship with the C&A was important to that success, however, of perhaps equal importance to that success was the canal's accessibility not only to its own boats but also to steamboats and to vessels from other navigation system. The D&R played a crucial role in the transport of anthracite coal to New York City during the Industrial Revolution, and one of the regional canals that utilized D&R waterways was Pennsylvania's Schuylkill Navigation System. Schuylkill boats carried coal northward from Philadelphia via the Delaware River, and access to the D&R system was gained through the canal terminus and the Delaware River entrance channel located adjacent to the railroad bridge at this site., The nearby bridge is one of the type known as a "trestle" due to its numerous, closely spaced, wooden piers, and it replaced an earlier "trestle" constructed prior to 1880. The wreck of a partially submerged wooden boat, referred to as the "trestle vessel" and located under the north end of the bridge near the former D&R Lock 1 site (see plan drawing at left), was documented and researched by an underwater archaeological team during early 2001. Based upon the size, configuration and method of construction it was determined that the boat was likely from the Schuylkill Navigation System was probably abandoned after the Schuylkill system loks were enlarged in 1846 and prior to the pre-1880 bridge construction. (See drawing detailing the vessel construction and configuration above.) The remains of the "trestle vessel" may still be seen during periods of low tide.