Uniting Western and Eastern PA: The Union CanalBy: Kevin Dahms, Spring 2010 It's a mild and sunny Saturday afternoon in March. It's not usually this nice out this time of year in Middletown, PA. As you look out the window of the old locomotive passenger car, you see a body of water, possibly a creek, running alongside of the tracks. Suddenly, a voice interrupts the steady chugga-chugga coming from the wheels below the floor. Now if you folks turn your focus to the windows on the left hand side of the train, you'll see what is left of the once great Union Canal! You're aboard the Milk and Honey Line, an excursion train that loops around Middletown to Hummelstown. That was the conductor who startled you as he narrates the scenery outside the train throughout the roughly eleven mile journey. Now, why would there be an excursion train in the middle of Lebanon County? The conductor gave it away. As it turns out, the very tracks that are running beneath you were constructed in 1890 along what was once a tow path for mules. And that creek running just outside of your window is actually the Union Canal whose boats were pulled by those very mules. The Union Canal is an abandoned towpath canal that existed in the 19th century connecting Philadelphia with the Susquehanna River. The idea for a canal linking the two bodies of water was first proposed way back in 1690 by William Penn of Philadelphia. Speaking of Philadelphia, he is widely known as the key figure in planning and developing the city in colonial times, so to say the least, he knew what he was doing. Unfortunately, it wasn't until the 1760s that the canal was actually surveyed. To be exact, surveying is defined as accurately determining the terrestrial or threedimensional space position of points and the distances and angles between them. So, when David Rittenhouse and William Smith began the process, its understandable that it took 8 years (finished in 1770), especially doing so without any previous precedents, at least in the country. The Union Canal was the first canal surveyed in the United States between 1762 and 1770 and it's tunnel, the Union Canal Tunnel, is the oldest transportation tunnel, still existing, in the country. You can find it, or it's remains, along its eighty mile path which stretch from the Susquehanna River in Middletown, to the Schuylkill River, in Reading. Yes, the same Schuylkill River that runs through Philadelphia. And yes, the Susquehanna River that heads East to Pittsburgh. I think you can see the significance here. First known as the Schuylkill and Susquehanna Canal Company, the company first broke ground in 1772, under the direction of William Weston, an English Engineer who had previous experience working with canals. Workers labored hard enough to get a few miles dug, and even build five locks. George Washington stopped by to turn the first shovel. Things were going smooth, until a lack of funds halted

construction. A photograph of the second lock above Reading is shown, along with a photograph of what one of the original locks looks like today, algae and all. And again, outside your left side windows, the conductor announces you folks can get a look at what is left of one of the original canal locks. Now for those of you who are unfamiliar with the term, canal locks are devices for raising and lowering boats between the stretches of water. In 1811 the company got back together, this time under the name Union Canal Company of Pennsylvania. However, construction didn't start up again until 1821. Excitement was growing as evidenced in the following local newspapers from 1825. Some saw it as a competition with New York. The Pennsylvania Improvement Society addressed the citizens of the state in local Philadelphia papers, pointing out how the city was once the largest benefactor of trade but had recently lost it's title to New York, largely due to its recent completion of the Erie Canal. Through the address, the society hoped to revive the spirit of energy which formally distinguished this state, and excite a laudable emulation of the noble career of our sister state, New York. The Committee of the Pennsylvania Society for the Promotion of Internal Improvements of the Commonwealth wrote up a ten page circular about the project, calling it the most important subject agitated in Pennsylvania since the time Penn...purchased soil from the original towners. It appeared in both the U.S. Gazette and The Centinel that year. In the Pennsylvnia Intelligencer that same year, James M. Porter of Northampton County claimed the application of the resources of the state ought not to be regarded as an expenditure, but as a most beneficial investment. This link was going to greatly benefit the state. This time, the 80 mile canal had to be completed. And it was, in 1828, along with its 102 locks. The completion of the canal created a direct link between Pennsylvania's two powerhouses, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, in a time when water was the only alternative to horseback in terms of trade transportation. With the canal up and running, many job opportunities arose. To feed water from the Swatara Creek to the highest point in Lebanon, a pumping station was necessary. An entire community, known as Water Works developed around the pumping station in North Annville Township of Lebanon, PA. Consensuses from 1850-1890 reveal men working as canal superintendent, canal manager, lock keeper, weighmaster, boatman, steamhouse tender, engineer, and boat maker. The 1830s and were a particularly profitable time as many people were moving out west, increading the amount of goods needing to be shipped back and forth from markets.

Up until the 1850s, everything went smoothly for the canal. However, it became apparent that the locks needed to be enlarged to accommodate larger boat sizes. Under the direction of engineer Laommi Baldwin Jr., the canal locks were widened from (8.5' X 75') to (17' X 90') during the 1850s, which really allowed it to prosper through the 1860s. In his Engineer's Report, dated January 31st 1853, James Worrall, chief engineer, includes the following table. It outlines the goods, along with its amount, that passed through the canal in 1852.

Tons Anthracite Coal Iron Ore Lumber Iron Grain Limestone Butuminous coal Flour Lime Shingles Plaster Cordwood Salt Charcoal Merchandise Fish Sundries Total 65913 18677 17640 13841 9247 7165 5140 2774 1649 1610 1380 1306 776 500 340 223 3962 152143

Unfortunately, the widening of the canal marked the beginning of the end. Though the 1860s saw a brief period of prosperity, the cost to perform the enlargement was tough for the company to swallow. It was a necessary process. Also, a flood severely damaged the primary supply dam of the Northern branch, a major source of revenue. Once railroads boomed and began to crisscross the state, the canals prominence faded. The final nail in the coffin was the completion of the Lebanon railroad, connecting Harrisburg with Reading, forcing the canal to close permanently in 1885. Despite closing, the Union Water Works community remained a vibrant community. An elementary school, Union Canal Elemtary School, in Lebanon

County is named after it. The Union Canal Tunnel was constructed thorugh a ridge seperating Quittapahilla Creek and Clark's Run. This was only the second tunnel of it's kind built in the country. Purchased by the Lebanon County Historical Society in April 1950, the tunnel now on the National Register of Historic Places. It's also designated a National Historic Landmark and a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark. As the conductor reminds you that the tour is coming to a close, therefore ending the narrated portion of the journey, you sit back and relax as the accordionist in the back of the car plays the Pennsylvania polka. You notice the wild oats growing on the outskirts of the train tracks. These wild oats were sown from the falling seeds of the feed bags the mules ate from. Serving as a reminder of long and winding towpath that paralleled Pennsylvania's great golden link. "Berks Parks: Union Canal." The County of Berks, PA CareerLink Official Site. Web. 30 Mar. 2010. . The Berks Parks website gives a very good over view of the union canal. Besides general history, the site gives some in depth descriptions of the canal locks. There are also a few pictures of what the canal looks like today. Dennis, Robert N. Stereoscopic views of second lock above Reading, Union Canal. Digital image. Wikimedia Commons. 31 Aug. 2005. Web. 11 Feb. 2010. . This is a stereoscopic view of the canal taken sometime between 1965-1985. It is a picture of the second lock of the canal above Reading, PA. Finetooth, U.S. Census, and Ruhrfisch. Historic canals of Pennsylvania. Digital image. Wikimedia Commons. 17 Mar. 2009. Web. 11 Feb. 2010. . Wikipedia Commons contains a map of Pennsylvania outlining the location of the Union Canal along with other major rivers and bodies of water that slice up the state. "North Annville Genealogy." North Annville Genealogy. Web. 30 Mar. 2010. . The North Annville Genealogy society, details much of the history of the Lebanon County township. This particular page talks about some of the problems the canal encountered, while mostly focusing on what happened in North Annville after the canal ceased operation. "North Annville Genealogy." North Annville Genealogy. Web. 30 Mar. 2010. . The North Annville Genealogy society, details much of the history of the Lebanon County township.

This particular page details the history of the Union Water Works, a residential village formed out of the sudden rise in job opportunities created after the water pump was built. "PE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN""http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1 /DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd" BBC - h2g2 - Pennsylvania's Union Canal." BBC Homepage. Web. 16 Feb. 2010. . This BBC site explains what errors were encountered during the construction of the canal. It talks about how the canal was attempted a second time and also outlines what is left of the canal. This will help explain the state of the canal today. "PE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN""http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1 /DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd" BBC - h2g2 - Middletown-Hummelstown Railroad, Pennsylvania, USA." BBC - Homepage. Web. 16 Feb. 2010.. The article reports how today there are railroad tracks running along the canal that play host to an excursion train. It mentions what the narrator points out on the train ride and current available times to ride. This will also help explain the state of the canal today. Shelling, Richard I. "Philadelphia and the Agitation in 1825 for the Pennsylvania Canal." Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography Vol. 62 Apr. 1938: 175-204. The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography. Web. 12 Apr. 2010. . This magazine issue from 1938 highlights some of the years during the 1820s when construction was underway for a second time. It mentions a lot about the commonwealth of Pennsylvania paying for the canal and how locals and organizations felt about the project. "Union Canal Elementary School." Cornwall-Lebanon School District. Web. 30 Mar. 2010. . This is simply a link for the Union Canal Elementary School's page off of the Cornwall-Lebanon School District's website official website Union Canal Tunnel in Lebanon, PA. Digital image. Lebcounty.org. Web. 11 Feb. 2010. . This is a modern picture of the Union Canal Tunnel that was constructed in Lebanon county. Worrall, James. The Union Canal Company of Pennsylvania. Vol. 11. 68 Dock Street: John C Clark, 1853. Print. James Worrall, an engineer that inspected the Union Canal in 1852, gives a formal report on the canal for that year. In this report, he gives the status of the canal and current conditions of different parts of it.

At the end of the report, he recommends to the President and managers of the Pennsylvania Union Canal company that they finish enlarging the canal.

http://www.americancanals.org/pa_map.gif Canals and rivers of Eastern PA. The Union Canal is highlighted in yellow. (A good spot for this picture might be after/next to the paragraph about the completion of the canal.) *Note: edited cut off western PA and added yellow for identification.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/84/Second_lock_above_Reading ,_Union_Canal,_from_Robert_N._Dennis_collection_of_stereoscopic_views_3.png A view of the second lock of the Canal above Reading, PA. Date assumed to be around 1865-1885. ( A good spot for this picture would be after the paragraph mentioning the widening of the canal in the 1860s. You could chop it in half if you want since its just the same image twice.)

http://travel.webshots.com/photo/2003296190054019369OWGwBa A view of the canal as it exists in Lebanon as of November 2007 near the Union Canal Tunnel. (A good place for this picture would be next to or near the last 2 paragraphs. It's interchangeable with the next picture.) *Note: I randomly came across this picture on webshots. I'm not sure if I could use it or not, but it's a great picture.

http://www.bccl.org/parks/cwp/view.asp?a=1246&q=475688 Lock 47 E. The towpath trail is visible, as well as the balances, at the top of the wooden gates, used to push the lock open and closed. (A good place for this picture would be next to or near the last 2 paragraphs. It's

interchangeable with the next picture.) http://www.davidhanauer.com/buckscounty/canal/photos/canal_mule.jpg Walking along a towpath, a mule pulls a barge along a canal. (A good spot for this might be in the beginning after the second large paragraph, mentioning the union canal as a towpath canal)