The Legend Of Jack Of The Lantern

The Legend Of Jack Of The Lantern

According to Irish legend, there was once a mean and stingy miser by the name of Jack, who, drinking too much one night at his favorite pub, started to leave his body.  The devil came to claim him, but Jack was in no hurry to join the devil in hell, so he tricked the devil into giving him money to buy more drinks.

When the devil claimed to have no money, Jack convinced him to turn into a coin.  Once he had done so, Jack placed the coin in his pocket beside a silver cross, trapping him. He then struck a deal with the devil - he would let him escape, if the devil promised to leave him alone for one year.

A year passed, and the devil once again came for Jack.  As they began their journey to hell, they passed an apple tree with large juicy fruit.  Jack convinced the devil to climb the tree to pick the biggest apple, and as he did so, Jack quickly carved a cross into the trees bark, trapping the devil in the tree.  He then bargained with the devil again, making him promise to leave him alone for ten years, and to never claim his soul.

A year later, Jack died. Refused at the gates of heaven, he made his way to the gates of hell, where the devil refused him also, keeping his promise to never claim Jack's soul.  The devil tossed jack a burning coal from the fires of hell, which Jack placed in a turnip as a lantern.  "Jack Of The Lantern"  continued to roam the earth, looking for his final resting place.

  Irish families would carve their own potatoes and turnips, placing them in the windows to scare the spirits, including Jack,  away.

During the potato famine of the 1840s, Irish immigrants flooded into America.  They found work here in central Pennsylvania, building canals, and working the mines, bringing their Jack Of The Lantern legend with them.  Here they found that the native gourd, the pumpkin was much easier to hollow out than a potato or turnip, and made a much better vessel for their lanterns.

Jack O' Lantern Trivia:

•  The term Jack-O-Lantern first appeared in print in 1750.  It referred to a night watchman carrying a lantern.
• "Jack" is the common British and Irish slang for a man.
• Before metalsmithing and glass-making became accomplished arts, hollowed out vegetable shells, most commonly potatoes and turnips, were frequently used as lanterns
• Pumpkins are indigenous to the Western Hemisphere, believing to have originated in North America.  Seeds from related plants in Mexico date back more than 7,000 years to 5,500 BC
• Pumpkins were completely unknown in Europe before the time of Columbus.
• Indians called pumpkins "isquotersquash".  The gourd was a staple in their diet.
• Colonists, once introduced to the pumpkin, sliced off the tops, hollowed them out, and filled them with milk, spices, and honey, baking them in hot ashes.  This is the origin of pumpkin pie.
• Today pumpkins are grown throughout the world, on every continent except Antarctica.  (Pumpkins are even grown in Alaska)

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From the Carlisle Valley Sentinel, 1880

"Our Mischief With Jack O Lanterns"

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The Spooky Side Of The Susquehanna Valley - Witches, Skeletons, Ghosts & Grave Robbers

https://susquehannavalley.blogspot.com/2020/10/the-spooky-side-of-susquehanna-valley.html

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The Sunbury Spook of 1887

 

"But in the witching hours when ghosts and goblins walk in haunted fields through haunted streets or haunted bridges; when the gas in the street lamps flicker, and witchcraft, dire omens, and pretentious sounds fill the air, the cloaked  man sallies forth, leaving to the curious town people the task of wondering what he is after."

In March of 1903, The Lewisburg Journal ran an article from New York by Prof. C.W. Leadbeater, describing the seven distinct forms of ghosts.

He seems to have missed the most common form, seen in Central Pennsylvania typically around the month of March.  The 8th form could be called "Practical Joker Spooks."

While perusing old newspapers, searching the term "spook", the results most commonly occur in March.  This could purely be coincidence, but it did not escape my notice that March is often a quiet month.  Unlike All Hallows Eve, it's not harvest season. It was frequently before the spring thaw and planting season, and after men had been cooped up inside for winter.

Around this time, the spooks most commonly appeared.  

The Spooky Side Of The Susquehanna Valley - Witches, Skeletons, Ghosts & Grave Robbers

Witches, Skeletons, Ghosts & Grave Robbers
Local Legends, Lore, & History

Lewisburg's Cross Cut Canal

Pennsylvania Canal between Lewisburg and Montandon
Canal with towpath By John Wesley Little [Picture Rocks, PA] 1898

In September of 2025, the river levels were so low that the remnants of the cross cut were visible.  See Bucknell's photos in their post here:

  https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1AsG7kFyHJ/

When the canal was planned for the Susquehanna Valley, Engineer Francis Rawle surveyed both banks of the river.  It was determined that running the canal along the east branch would cost more than $300,000 less than running it along the west branch.  "Jubilation in Milton and Watsontown was matched by Lewisburg's despair."

Canal near East Lewisburg

Paul Matrey tells me he's often amazed by William Cameron's political muscle at the time.   Cameron owned a Shamokin colliery, and had stakes in bridge, rails and canals. 

The cross-cut canal dam (1833 - Pennsylvania Canal), built by sinking timbers into the riverbed, created slackwater, just below the dam.

The slackwater was used for taking canal boats to the opposite side. Canal boats were the trucks, of their day. William Cameron financed, and provided work crews, for it's building.

  

Centennial History of Lewisburg by I.H. Mauser

"Talk about political muscle. The cross-cut canal dam, located at the base of St. Louis St., on the river, was built by William Cameron's crews (about 30 years prior to the covered bridge). William Cameron's home was located at Market and Second Sts. His bank was directly across Second St.. His hotel was diagonally across Market St., from his home. Interestingly, he was on the site location committee which chose the site of the Union County Courthouse, which was placed at the intersection of St. Louis St. (cross-cut canal) and S. Second St. (hotel, bank, home)." - Paul Matrey

There are remains from the Canal in the Montandon Marsh, but they are located on private property. The Merill Linn Conservancy occasionally obtains permission for guided hikes through the area.

When the canal opened from Muncy to Northumberland, goods were carried at a third of the cost of transporting them by wagon. Lewisburg was in danger of losing their import export trade to their rival on the east bank of the river.

Men from Lewisburg  constantly petitioned for a cross cut to connect them to the canal.  A survey by Francis Rawle showed that a cross cut canal route to Lewisburg could be built for $25, 226.  

Henry Frick of Northumberland continued to oppose the addition.  In 1831, the Lewisburg Canal was attached to a bill in front of the house.  The canal issue was excluded from the bill, then re-added.  Then it was sent to the senate, where it was removed again.  The house then rejected the senate amendments, and the canal was put back.  On March 21, 1831, the bill including the Lewisburg Canal was signed by a reluctant Governor.  Lewisburg celebrated with cannon fire.

In Linn's annals of The Buffalo Valley he wrote "March 22, news of passage of the improvement act, and its signature by the Governor, which includes the Lewisburg Cross -Cut, reached Lewisburg. The town was illuminated, cannon fired, and toasts drank."

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The Cross Cut Is Completed

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On October 26, 1833, the Lewisburg Cross Cut was completed.  According to Rupp's history, the "cross-cut or side-cut extends from Lewisburg to the pool formed by a dam in the river, and thus communicated with the state canal.  This cut is about three fourths of a mile long and has contributed much towards the briskness of business in Lewisburg."

"A dam opposite the town, built in 1833, forms a basin, which, with a short cross-cut, enables the trade of the place to reach the West Branch canal, at a distance of about half a mile.” Sherman Day, Historical Collections of the State of Pennsylvania (1843).

 THE CROSS CUT CANAL

 This is a branch of the Pennsylvania Canal which passes up on the east side of the river.  The Cross Cut is nearly one half of a mile in length to the river and here a dam gives the depth of water necessary for boats to cross to Lewisburg.  It was completed by the state in 1833 and until the Northern Central railroad was made in 1855 it was the only high way of traffic for the towns along the river and is such was used a great deal.  The railroad took the most of this traffic and when finally the L & T road entered Lewisburg in 1865 the Cross Cut was abandoned entirely. There is some talk of reopening it for shipping Soft coal the railroad bringing that commodity to East Lewisburg and then loading it on boats but there is nothing definite about it .

1856 Map Of Union County

"When at last the cross-cut was completed, thus bringing the canal to Lewisburg, a large crowd turned out on October 26 1833 to witness the first flow of water through the canal.  It was an enthusiastic crowd, and in the spirit of the times a meeting was proposed a the house of Col. Christian Schroyer for a public expression of sentiment relative [speeches were given]  to those who had been concerned in procuring the improvement."  At the close of the meeting a large parade was formed, and in the evening there was a display of fireworks.  

"After a number of delays and the expenditure of just over $30,000, the cross-cut canal, consisting of a ditch two-thirds of a mile in length, three locks changing elevation 21 feet, and a culvert of four and one-half feet to carry the canal over the Montandon wetlands, was officially opened in October of 1833. On the appointed day a crowd gathered at Montandon and followed the flow of the water to its outlet at the river. Public celebration toasts were offered to “internal improvements”; “the cross-cut”; Canal Commissioner John Mitchell; Robert Faris, the engineer; Canal Superintendent William Parsons; William Packer, Superintendent of the West Branch Division; Samuel J. Packer, who had led the battle for the cross-cut as a state legislator; and Governor George Wolf, who had reluctantly signed the swollen Improvement Bill. Before winter closed, several barges had been drawn into the port of Lewisburg via the completed canal.

The cross-cut stimulated a land boom along its banks. Churchville, a “town” of 100 lots was surveyed and offered for sale. It died on the vine, but this was not the case in Lewisburg, where the canal stimulated mercantile activity long dormant: “Business is becoming quite lively .. . produce is departing daily . . . houses are going up" Union County Pennsylvania, by Charles McCool Snyder

In 1841, the canal commissioners report shows that the canal was in disrepair, and goods had to be transported across the toll bridge to reach the canal on the east side of the river.  It would be several years before repairs were made.

1895 Map, showing the canal in Montandon

[Note - the cross cut was abandoned in 1865 ]

A description of the 1889 flood includes:

"The L. & T. railroad from the canal drawbridge to Nesbit's planing mill was buoyed up by the cross-ties and sent down the valley"

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Churchville - 

The Town That The Canal Didn't Build

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On March 30 1833, Francis & Jeremiah Church laid out a town, directly across the river from Lewisburg.  The proposed map showed 160 numbered lots, with named streets and alleys, running along the south side of the cross cut canal. Had churchville been built, it would today stretch from May's Drive In towards the town of Montandon.  Today this area is woods and wetlands.

A month after the town was laid out, Francis and Jeremiah began advertising  lots that would be available at a public sale later that month.

The church brothers were not from Lewisburg, but were "property speculators", who traveled around the country where they purchased land, divided it into lots, and sold it.  

Jeremiah Church kept a journal, which can be found online here:

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=pst.000010309254&view=1up&seq=9

In it he writes:

The next town we made our appearance in was Lewisburg , formerly called Derrstown . We there made a purchase of one hundred and twenty - five acres of land , of Gen . Green , at forty - five dollars per acre , laying on both sides of the cross - cut , from the end of the bridge to the Pennsylvania canal , opposite the town of Lewisburg .

 Having been in the habit of making towns , we concluded that we could make one most any where , and we thought we would try a small one in opposition to the one on the other side of the river — Lewisburg . 

However , we did not frighten them much as a rival , but we got their feelings raised and blood up , so that they bought of us at beautiful prices . There was one gentleman who purchased seventeen acres at one hundred dollars per acre , the next day after we had bought it at forty - five .

 We laid out the balance into streets , alleys , and out - lots , and called it Churchville . We sold out the whole purchase in two weeks , and made some money , but not much of a town .

 It was a very pleasant place for a town , but there were no houses built in it but one , I believe , and that was a hotel ; and in order to let the people know that that was the town of Churchville , the proprietor of the house had the name written on a large sign - “ CHURCHVILLE HOTEL , ” and I am very thankful to the gentleman for keeping up appearances .

Bell, in his history of Northumberland County, writes of Churchville:

“This effort to establish a town no doubt indicated considerable enterprise on the part of the projectors, but the place failed to materialize, owing in all probability to the fact that the country was not so thickly settled at that time as to require an intermediate trading point between Milton and Northumberland.”

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Find More Stories & History Of Lewisburg Here:
https://susquehannavalley.blogspot.com/2020/08/lewisburg-pa.html

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When The Susquehanna Valley Had A Canal - The West Branch 

https://susquehannavalley.blogspot.com/2020/10/when-susquehanna-valley-had-canal-west.html

"The first picture in this set is a guard lock on the West Branch canal called Sanders lock located on the west branch canal behind the fence restaurant. Not much left of it anymore. Has nothing to do with the cross cut canal. Capt. Mick. Michael McWiliiam"

Sanders Lock on the West Branch Canal was located near where the Fence is today, according to Capt. Mick.

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First a highway, then a canal bypassed Lewisburg on the east side of
the Susquehanna River. But the town refused to become a sleepy village
cut off from primary transportation networks. When the Pennsylvania
Canal went through in 1828, Lewisburg business owners petitioned the
State legislature to build a cross-cut canal a few hundred yards south
of the present Susquehanna River Bridge. The first canal boat crossed
the river in December 1855* As a major commercial artery, it provided
an economic stimulus to Lewisburg. The Lewisburg to Mifflinburg
turnpike, built circa 1850 when Lewisburg had a population of 924,
offered another boost to settlement and trade (FHWA 1984 Cultural
Resources Survey).

The Elks Home, Milton Pa

Milton Elks BPOE Lodge No 913 was established on May 20 1904.

BPOE = Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks

For the first year, the lodge occupied a building later occupied by Dr. Charles S. Tomilson. In 1905, the Elks moved to the Brown Building on Broadway.

They opened their new home, located on Broadway and Broad Avenue,  in April of 1905

The Explosion At Devils Elbow, P.&R. 1921

  

Engine 1091 of the P&R, shown some time before it exploded in October of 1921

Prior to 1928, there was a section on the "Danville Milton Highway" [642], known as "Devils Elbow".  It was located between the area of Pottsgove, and Mooresburg.  It no longer exists.

Devils Elbow was the scene of many auto accidents.  In 1924, plans began to remove the curve.  By 1928, the route from Danville to Milton had been considerably straightened out.  A new bridge had been added, and two railroad crossings had been removed, in addition to the road being rerouted through several farm fields.

Before the road was changed, on October 26 1921, "Engine on P&R blows up at "Devil's Elbow", Killing Four."

"The explosion occurred while the locomotive was proceeding from Catawissa to West Milton over the Catawissa branch.  The engine, which was No 1091, was being used as a "pusher" on the rear of a freight train on account of the heavy grades between the two points.

Originally, one man was killed and four were injured, but three of those injured would die from their injuries.

Herdic Park [Old Oaks Park], Williamsport Pa

Herdic Park, as shown on the 1872 Fowler Map

The first mention I found of Herdic Park was in 1869. Many groups, including the Washies Fire Company, had their annual picnics here. The horse races brought in some of the most famous race horses from around the state. The park was incorporated in 1871.

Within the city limits is Herdic Park - a magnificent race-course and exhibition ground, -embracing thirty-five acres, on which are erected suitable buildings of superior construction. In connection with the park are hatching-houses and trout-ponds where at least half a million of the "speckled beauties" may at any time be see in all stages of development." The Pennsylvania Railroad, by Sipes

Herdic Park On the Sanborn Fire Map

[By The 1870s] The Local baseball scene shifted to the inner concourse of the Old Oak (Herdic) Park race track where fans flocked to witness some of the best baseball played in teh north-central riter of Pennsylvania" - Williamsport Baseball History by Quiegle & Hunsinger

"The lovers of pictorial amusement will find the Herdic Park with its extensive trout ponds where if we mistake not they may even angle among the hundred thousand trout a spot of exciting interest. Our Herdic House the largest hotel in the State 156 feet square with its beautiful and romantic surroundings is the pride of our citizens and the admiration of visitors." 1871 Pennsylvania School Journal

"Lovers of sport in its now corrupted sense i e sporting men find themselves at home in Herdic Park where there is a magnificent race course and followers of Izaak Walton are equally at home in the hatching houses and trout ponds connected with the park It is one thing to catch trout and another thing to watch trout but the mere sight of them is not without interest even to piscatory laymen There are at least a half million of these little speckled creatures here in all stages of diminution and magnitude "

In 1884, Herdic Park was purchased by by the Hon. R.J.C. Walker, and renamed it for the "magnificent grove of old oaks"   Old Oaks Park covered 20 [27?  Or 20 even?] acres, including a grove of large oak trees and several springs of ice cold water, some "having water all the time, three feet in depth."

Lining the grove was a long grame building over 160 feet in width by 30 feet in widthe. 

On the second story is the grand stand, with seating capacity for over 2000 persons.  The building was completely rebuilt in 1884. It was trimmed in Tuscan red, striped with black.  A dining room and restaurant was inside the building. The race track was half a mile long, 50 feet wide, except at the home stretch where it was 65 feed wide.

The first mention I found of Old Oaks Park was in 1884.

May 1885

"He [Robert McClure] married Mary, a daughter of William Hepburn, who owned what was then known as “Deer Park”, comprising 320 acres. Old Oaks Park, site of the Williamsport Hospital, was a portion of this splendid estate."

Today, Williamsport hospital sits on the site of Old Oaks Park.

July 1889

"That same year, the hospital began looking for a larger building. A house on Pine Street near Fifth Avenue was purchased. Although this facility was larger, it had its drawbacks. A nearby railroad created a lot of noise that was distracting to ill patients, and when the flood of 1889 filled the building with three feet of muddy water, the board of managers was finally convinced that it was time to find a more appropriate location. Eventually, a large tract of land, called Old Oaks Park, in the vicinity of Louisa and Campbell Streets and Rural Avenue, was being opened for development and the board of managers purchased an entire city block and built a new facility that was opened in 1891. Over 100 years later, the main building of the Hospital is still located on this site and is today The Williamsport Hospital campus of Susquehanna Health." https://www.susquehannahealth.org/about/our-history

August 1889

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October 25 1873 - James Van Dyke of Turbotville, severely injured when Kentucky George, the thoroughbred horse he was riding at a race in Williamsport, fell. The horse broke its neck and died under the wire a winner.

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June 12 1885

A Well-Known Turfman' Dancer. Frank L. Herdlc, a well-known pool seller or the national circuit, had a narrow escape from death on the track on Friday at Old Oaks park, Williamsport,  After the races were over a large number of citizens In private, vehicles drove on the course, as is me custom. Among them was Mr. Herdic, with a black horse, which  he purchased in Philadelphia last week. He speeded the animal and was going down the stretch at a 2:25 gait when, in turning out for a carriage, his wagon upset Mr. Herdic was thrown out, and his feet caught In the spokes of the rear wheels. The horse ran away and In this position he was dragged five hundred feet on his back, when a horseman very pluckily dashed out, grasped the horse by the nose and checked his violent career. Mr Herdics escape from terrible death was almost miraculous and people who witnessed the affair say that in another moment he would have been dashed to pieces against the fence that surrounds the track. His shoulder was dislocated and two ribs broken.

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For More Local Stories & History Of Williamsport

https://susquehannavalley.blogspot.com/2020/09/williamsport-pennsylvania.html

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When Pennsylvania Had Witch Trials - The Witch Of Ridley Creek

Eight years before the Salem Witch Trials, two women in Pennsylvania were tried for witchcraft. 

 In 1683, the cows near Ridley Creek, an area south of Philadelphia, were acting funny.  They weren't giving much milk, and livestock was dying at a faster than normal rate. 

 The Dutch and English Settlers, who had arrived to this area known as "New Sweden", were already disappointed to find  that the early Swedish settlers had claimed all of the best farmland.  And now their livestock was not doing as well as they thought it should. 

 Their frustration, and lack of communication with the Swedish settlers who spoke little English, led to rumors and accusations.  Before long, the communities traditional Finish Healer, a Swedish woman by the name of Margaret Matteson, was blamed for the troubles.  She was accused of "bewitching the animals", and was sent to trial for being a witch.  Mattson's neighbor, Gerto Hendrickson, was charged with the same crime.

William Penn was a man of wisdom, and he conducted the trial in such a way to avoid all of the hysteria that would later plague Salem.  The case was tried quickly, and the women were found guilty of  the crime of having the reputation of being witches, but not with the crime of performing witchcraft.  An important distinction.  The women's husbands were each charged a 50 pound peace bond, to be returned in 6 months as long as the women behaved and there were no further charges.

When The Susquehanna Valley Had A Canal - The West Branch

From 1834 to 1900, The West Branch Canal ran from Northumberland to just below Lock Haven

The West Branch Canal began at the basin in Northumberland, and ran along the east bank of the Susquehanna River all the way to Farrandsville (just past Lock Haven), covering a distance of 73 miles.  There were 19 locks, "overcoming the 138.5 feet of vertical lockage."

[Report from 1978]

Construction of the canal began in 1828 and was completed in 1835.  It was used primarily to transport lumber from north of Williamsport, but it was also used by passengers, and for transporting various supplies.

The laborers were mostly foreigners, and were "constantly at odds with those who lived above Williamsport."  In 1833 a riot broke out in Dunnstown, and three were killed before order was restored.

The canal was 28 feet wide on the bottom, 40 feet wide at the top and 8 to 10 feet deep. On October 15 1834, the first water was let into the canal.

On October 19th 1834, people from all of the neighboring valleys came out to watch the very first boat, owned by George Aughenbagh, pass through the canal.

"It was considered a great privilege to travel at the rate of five or six miles and hour on the slow packet boats, which were pulled by mules along the towpaths."

When the Captains conch shell or horn announced the boats arrival from a distance the locktender would raise the gate for the boat to enter, and the upper gate would then be closed. When the boat was inside, water would fill the chamber from small wickets in the bottom of the upper gates. The inflowing water would raise the boat to the next level and the upper gates were opened and the boat sailed out. 
Teams of mules or horses were used to pull the boats. For passengers, benches inside the boats served as beds at night.

Sketch showing the build and workings of a canal lock

The canal system flourished for nearly 20 years, through the 1830s and 40s. But by the early 1850s, the railroad was taking over. In 1858 the state of Pennsylvania sold the West Branch and Bald Eagle Canals to the Sunbury and Erie Railroad. The waterways were not completely abandoned until 1900.

As Henry Shoemaker said in 1948, "A few decades later the Sunbury and Erie R.R. was completed to Williamsport. The more speedy and tireless iron horses took the place of horses of bone and flesh and packet boat became obsolete."

View from what is today the Shikellamy Overlook, showing where the north branch met the west branch of the canal.

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The West Branch  Canal

Town By Town
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Canal Basin At Northumberland
This is where the North and West Branches of the canal met.
The North Branch can be seen on the right, going up to the top of the photo.  The West branch is crossing the photo, running to the left.

Northumberland Canal Basin

0 Miles - Canal Begins
.6 Miles  Lock #13, 7.75 Foot Lift
6.5 Mile  Lock #14  5.94 Foot Lift

See more photos and maps of the canal at Northumberland, here:

https://susquehannavalley.blogspot.com/2022/10/the-canal-at-northumberland-pa-where.html

The Northumberland Canal Basin, Blue Hill in the Background

 Inlet to North’d basin- raised boats 13.5 feet from river to basin. 

Closeup of locks at Northumberland basin. – boats entering lock.

Canal Boats at Sunbury

The Canal At Sunbury

Canal Looking North, Sunbury PA

At the Winfield Dock

Lewisburg

8 Miles   Lock #15 Lewisburg Cut
8.2 Miles Lock #16 Guard Lock Near Lewisburg Dam

A short cut connection known as the Lewisburg Cut was built in 1833, to tie Lewisburg into the West Branch Canal System. Lewisburg requested a cross-cut canal be built to connect the town with the canal on the eastern shore. William Cameron of Lewisburg built the cross-cut canal, just over a half-mile long with a lift lock midway and another at the river, and a dam just below the cross-cut. Construction began in 1833 and concluded in 1834.

Oct 26 1833 - The Lewisburg Cross Cut Canal was completed.  The dam remains at the base of St. Louis St., across the Susquehanna.

Milton

1883 Map showing the canal running through Milton

The Lock Tenders House, Milton Pa

10.2 Miles Lock #17 6.12 Foot Lift Milton, including Limestone Run Aqueduct

For more photos of the Canal in Milton

https://susquehannavalley.blogspot.com/2025/09/the-canal-in-milton-pennsylvania.html

Watsontown

14.6 Miles Lock #18 5.2 Foot 

Canal & Lock Tenders House At Watsontown 

"The West Branch Canal - Owing to the Muncy feeder failing to supply this Canal with water, the navigation ceases for the present. Boats cannot possibly pass the lock at the Warrior Run, four miles above Milton. The Muncy Dam has  sunk about four feet: and measures ought to bo adopted for its immediate repair. At this time the inconvenience will be severely felt, by those who rely upon the canal for a safe navigation in the transit of their produce, merchandize, &c." - June 1831

Canal Lock & Lock Tenders House At Watsontown

Canal Boat At Watsontown

The 1936 flood - Canal on the right

Canal Display at the Watsontown Historical Society Museum

Montgomery

22 Miles   Lock 19  7.2 Foot Lift 

Muncy

Old Canal Lock At Muncy, Lock #20
Below Port Penn

At Muncy there was a privately built 3/4 mile connection known as the Muncy Cut

22.9 Miles  Lock #20  5.4 Foot Lift Muncy Dam Lock

24 Miles    Lock #21  5.5 Foot Lift
26.2 Miles  Lock #22  5.5 Foot Lift
28.8 Miles  Lock #23  6.5 Foot Lift Wash Taylor's Locks
29 Miles    Lock #24  5.07 Foot Lift Near Halls Station
33.2 Miles  Lock #25  6.12 Foot Lift Joe Phillips Lock
35.4 Miles  Lock #26  4.83 Foot Lift Head Of White Water

Montoursville

Lock At Montoursville

Lock  at Montoursville

36.2 Miles  Lock #27  6.3 Foot Lift
41.2 Miles  Lock #28                 East Of Lycoming Creek Aqueduct

1854 Lithograph, "View Of Williamsport" [Looking East]

Showing a canal boat on the west branch canal

Canal Boats at Williamsport During the 1865 flood.

Look to the left - the log booms are shown in the river.

Map of Williamsport, Showing the Canal 

Old Canal Lock at Williamsport

50.2 Miles  Lock #29                 Thomas Smith Tract

51.7 Miles  Lock #30                 Wild Man's Lock
53.9 Miles  Lock #31                 Larry's Creek

Bridge over the Canal in Williamsport
Pennsylvania Railroad Bridge over canal at east end near C.A.. Reed Company...Lycoming County. Now Tower Square 2009......Third and Chestnut street..

The Log Boom At Linden, Showing The Canal

Canal between Pine & Market Streets, Williamsport Pa

Jersey Shore
56.4 Miles  Lock #32                 Jersey Shore

1854 lithograph by Batchelder showing the canal in the foreground and Jersey Shore.

Lock Haven

66.4 Miles  Lock #33                 Guard Lock Below Lock Haven Dam
68.4 Miles  Lock #34                 Lockport

The extension of the canal to Lock Haven began in 1833, when a dam was constructed for the purpose of supplying water to the canal. 

In 1844, a spur of the West Branch canal was constructed from Lock Haven to Milesburg.  Completed in 1846, this was known as the Bald Eagle Canal.

Jersey Shore had lock number 32, situated between Locust St.and Cemetery St.. Locust St.

"The piers of the aqueduct which carried the West Branch across Pine Creek were still standing the last time we visited the Tiadaghton Elm a few furlongs toward the hills.  The pier in the middle of the stream, of smooth well-formed concret, would make an excellend monument for that part of the canal if a proper incsciption were placed upon it. "

The Lock Haven Express 11 June 1969

 

 Significance: The lock keeper's house at Lock No. 34 (see HAER No. PA-188-A) is a historically significant remnant of the Pennsylvania state-built canal system. Part of the West Branch Pennsylvania Canal (see HAER No. PA-188), this c. 1934 resources was one element of a transportation system that did much to economically develop the valley of the West Branch of the Susquehanna River from 183 to 1889 and that served to catapult Lock Haven and neighboring Lockport to a lesser extent into a center for transporting, processing, and distributing agricultural products, iron and coal, and lumber. The lock keeper's house was constructed as a residence for the attending lock keeper, who was required to tend the lock on a twenty-four-hour basis. The existence of a relatively intact lock and keeper's house is rare, adding to the property's significance. The house is architecturally significant as one of the oldest existing buildings in Lower Lockport. The house maintains its architectural integrity through the retention of vernacular Greek Revival stylistic details and the core of its original form. The house is a typical example of lock keeper's houses along the West Branch Pennsylvania Canal, in that the original section of the house adheres to the standard dimensions, use of materials, and architectural styling dictated in a plan book developed for the West Branch Pennsylvania Canal and evident in surviving examples of lock keeper's houses along the former canal.

The Bald Eagle Crosscut

73.4 Miles    Canal Ended at Farrandsville

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Diorama of a Canal Lock and Lock Tenders House

On Display at the Taber Museum in Williamsport

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Read more Stories & History From The Susquehanna Valley Here

https://susquehannavalley.blogspot.com/p/history.html
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The West Branch Canal

From a Book By Homer Folk

"In 1829, the Muncy Line of the West Branch of the Pennsylvania Canal was started. With pick and shovel, wheelbarrows, dump wagons, and horses pulling scoops or drag lines, tremendous manpower and horsepower produced a continuous ditch with water that connected the remote parts of Pennsylvania with the cities of the east.

The standard dimensions of the canal in its cross section, termed the ”prism”, were a width of forty feet at top waterline, twenty-eight at the bottom, and a minimum depth of four feet. The chosen route through Milton had a constant sea level reading until near Cameron Avenue. There the elevation dropped, making a lock with a lift of 6.12 feet necessary. Stone walls held together with hydraulic cement (select limestone burned with clay) were one hundred and twenty feet long, with a passageway seventeen feet wide. Miter or angular joints on the inner edge of the heavy wooden gates located at each end of the lock sealed the gates, with little water loss when the gates were closed. The large square balance beams were manually operated to close the gates. The lock tender, who lived in the state house (lock tender’s house), was responsible for operating the gates.

To the west of the canal was the former Limestone Run creek bed . From this source and the marsh to the west of the bed, an unlimited amount of clay was available for the puddling operation, necessary to make the canal bed nearly waterproof. Sand, gravel, shale and other types of porous soils made puddling necessary. Clay was not always so available, sometimes it had to be hauled from miles away, chopped fine with narrow spades, mixed with water until it was pliable, and then worked into the natural soil or built up soil. Additional layers were applied until the clay puddle was two to three feet thick.

After much laborious work during 1828, 1829 and 1830, the canal was put into use in November 1830. Its use that year was short. With the coming of winter and the first ice on the canal, the boats were made ready for winter."

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Bibliography

• Shank, William H., The Amazing Pennsylvania Canals, (York, PA:  American Canal and Transportation Center, 1981), pp. 52-53.

• ______, “Pennsylvania West Branch Canal History,” in Shank, William H. (Publisher), The Best from American Canals, Number III, (York, PA: The American Canal and Transportation Center, 1986), p. 25.