Pre-Civil War Transportation Development

Pre-Civil War Transportation Development. Perry County Bicentennial.

1821: Harrisburg and Millerstown Turnpike chartered. , 1829: Pennsylvania Canal opened through Perry County. , 1849: Pennsylvania Railroad completed through Perry County.

, The building of turnpikes, canals and railroads facilitated agricultural, commercial and industrial growth, particularly in the river towns of Liverpool, New Buffalo, Millerstown, Newport, Duncannon and Marysville., Chartered in 1821, the Harrisburg and Millerstown Turnpike ran 26 miles along the flood plain of the Juniata until it encountered the hills east of Newport, at which point it went up over Shortcut Road., In 1829, the Juniata Division of the Pennsylvania Canal opened from Duncan's Island to Lewistown, with docks at Newport and Millerstown. The Susquehanna Division between Duncan's Island and Northumberland opened in 1831, with docks at New Buffalo and Liverpool, The Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) from Harrisburg to Lewistown was completed in 1849 with major stations at Duncannon, Newport and Millerstown. At Marysville, it intersected the Northern Central Railway (NCRY), completed in 1851, which connected Perry County to Baltimore. The NCRY and its yards gave the impetus for the birth and growth of Marysville, founded as "Fenwick" in 1861., In 1859, the PRR bought the canals and continued to operate them for some freight traffic until the 1889 flood damaged or destroyed much of the system., [Sidbar:] , The Storm Gathers , In 1841, Newport citizens (pop. 200) clashed with slave catchers seeking to return escaped fugitives. One slave died, but townspeople released two to continue their journey to freedom., This event epitomized the divide between the North and the South which erupted into civil war. In a conflict of attrition, the larger population of the North, three times the mileage in railroad capacity, and greater industrial base prevailed over more limited Southern resources., [Captions:] , The turnpike is visible at the center of the photograph, with the Miller Pottery to the left, ca. 1850., 1880s view of canal boats on the Susquehanna Division of the Pennsylvania Canal at Liverpool. The tall building at center left is the Odd Fellows Hall., Antebellum developments such as grain warehouses, lining Front Street and the Juniata Division of the Pennsylvania Canal at Newport, provided better market access for Perry County farmers., Northern Central freight yard in Marysville, ca. 1860.