In 1816 two Philadelphia dry-goods merchants, William and Maurice Wurts, purchased some anthracite coal fields in the Lackawanna Valley of Pennsylvania and began a small-scale mining operation. Their timing was impeccable — the War of 1812 had . . . — — Map (db m142839) HM
Mules or occasionally horses, harnessed together and linked by rope to the boats, trudged along the towing or towpath, pulling the canal boats through the water while on board the tillerman, or steersman, steered. The animals walked about a foot . . . — — Map (db m142840) HM
The canal ran downhill from Honesdale to Port Jerivis, then uphill to Summitville, New York, then sloped down until it reached the Hudson River at Rondout Harbor (Kingston), an elevation change of about 972-feet over all. Along the way, 108 locks . . . — — Map (db m142841) HM
This is Lock No. 50, operated by P.O. Callahan, one of ninety-five wood-lined units on the 108-mile-long canal; the remaining thirteen locks were lined with local stone hand-cut to fit the chambers.
The P.O. Callahan lock marked the end of the . . . — — Map (db m142842) HM
After its heyday in the late 1850's to 1870's, the canal gradually lost business to the faster, more efficient railroads, which could ship coal in the dead of winter and the dark of night. This loss of business resulted in layoffs of boats, fewer . . . — — Map (db m142843) HM
Rondout, located on the Hudson River, was enhanced in 1848 by the additional fourteen acres resulting from the man-made Island Dock, placed in a strategic spot that made the receiving and disbursement of coal much easier. Prior to the creation of . . . — — Map (db m142844) HM
The company used the contour of the land to create basins which were usually located above or below locks. Basins were wide spots in the canal, large enough for boats to load or unload cargo, stop for the night, and attend to minor repairs. Even . . . — — Map (db m142845) HM
Installed at strategic places, especially where brooks and springs fed water in, waste weirs were the safety features of the canal, helping to control the level and the speed of the water. These openings in the canal bank were usually made of stone . . . — — Map (db m142846) HM
This is the Boothroyd Dry Dock. You are looking in the same direction as the photograph below. Located at regular intervals along the canal, dry docks were used for repairing old boats and constructing new ones. Entrance was gained through a . . . — — Map (db m142847) HM
At Honesdale, Pennsylvania, coal was loaded onto flat-bottomed canal boats and pulled by mule team to the harbor at Kingston. New York. At the typical rate of three miles per hour, the 108-mile trip took seven to ten days. The majority of the canal . . . — — Map (db m142848) HM
Built in the 1850's as a residence for the family of F. W. Boothroyd, owner of a prosperous boatyard located on this property, this house is typical of canal-side buildings of the time. Its simple construction, minimal architectural detailing, and . . . — — Map (db m142849) HM
Established in 1880, the New York, Ontario & Western Railway ran from Oswego, N.Y. on Lake Ontario to Weehawken, New Jersey, which is located across the Hudson River from New York City. On its way south, the O&W linked upstate towns and villages . . . — — Map (db m142850) HM
With the opening of the Erie Canal, "canal fever" swept many parts of the United States and hastened the development of the Delaware & Hudson Canal. A few decades later, just after the Civil War, “railroad fever" gripped the nation, creating a . . . — — Map (db m142851) HM
