1906 Photo of Canal Boat "Up the canal from below Shamokin Dam"
The Stretch of Canal between Shamokin Dam and Selinsgrove was known as The Susquehanna Division. A typical canal boat along the Susquehanna Division was 85 feet long, 15 feet wide, and weighed 100,000 pounds
Built 1823-31; operated until 1901. It extended from Duncan's Island to Northumberland. In its 41-mile course, the Division embraced 13 locks, 7 aqueducts, old Shamokin Dam, and West Branch Towpath Bridge. Traces of the Canal can be seen at points along this road.
The beginning of the Susquehanna Canal, on the west side of the river, across from Sunbury
"In 1827 the Susquehanna Division from Duncan's Island to Northumberland was authorized. An advertisement appeared in the "Shamokin Canalboat," a newspaper published in Sunbury, September 28, 1827, for bids to build the dam, locks, aqueducts, tow-paths, etc., for the Pennsylvania Canal Division from the mouth of the Juniata to Northumberland, to be accepted at the residence of George Prince at Sunbury. This was signed by C. Mowry, Acting Canal Commissioner. This division was begun in 1828 and completed in 1832, being 41 miles in length." - Herbert Gearhart
The new boat yard built in 1872
Located on the west side of the canal just south of Bough Street.
The Steeple in the background is the Methodist church on Water Street.
The original boat yard, opened in 1868 by Keller and Gemberling and was destroyed by fire in 1872.
In March of 1872 the boat yard was owned by McCarthy, Keller & Co.
1885 Colsher And Moyer Boatyard & Sawmill
Located between Penns Creek and the Pa Canal, just sort of the Pine Street Bridge
1886 Canal Boat Permit for Captain Sanders to pilot PC20 From Port Trevorton to Selinsgrove
1900 Canal at Isle Of Que, showing the Pine Street Bridge. The building in the background is the Burns store.
1900 view of the river, showing Ira Clements Steam Boat in front of Blue Hill, across from Northumberland. Canal is in the background. On the right, you can see the covered bridge crossing the canal.
The Covered Bridge over the canal at Blue Hill
The Canal Aqueduct Over Penns Creek at Selinsgrove
Damaged by floods, the aqueduct was torn down in May of 1902
Canal At Norry (just above Shamokin Dam) with Blue Hill to the right.
1891 Photo of Captain Franklin Reif and his family crew with their canal boat near Port Trevorton
Canal Boats on the Susquehanna Division at Shamokin Dam, about 1908.
The long stone shown here is on display outside the Hunter House Museum at Fort Augusta in Sunbury Pa.
The date stone was installed inside the lock at Shamokin Dam in 1829. The stone was rescued in 1935 when the lock was dismantled by Charles Fisher Snyder and brought to the Northumberland Historical Society.
The sign explaining the history of the Shamokin Dam Lock Stone
Port Trevorton Lock, 1895
Pictured are Chris Mottern of Ohio, Joe Mottern of Danville, and his cousin Walter Mottern.
Sketch of the Canal From the 1953 Selinsgrove Centennial
Pa Canal Susquehanna Division Structures, with GPS Coordinates - 1970s
"The Susquehanna Division canal ran north from the outlet lock located on the Susquehanna River north of Harrisburg at the west end of the Clark's Ferry Bridge, on Duncan's Island, along the west bank of the Susquehanna River for 41 miles to a point opposite Northumberland at the junction of the rivers West and North branches. Here, the boats were towed to the east bank of the West Branch into Northumberland from a towpath on a bridge crossing the river. A needed slack water pool for this was created by Shamokin Dam, which spanned the river below the junction of the branches. Boats then locked up into the Northumberland Basin, which was the beginning point of the West Branch Canal and the North Branch Canal.
The division connected to the Eastern Division across the river at Clark's Ferry, the Juniata Division at the Amity Hall Basin, and the West Branch and the North Branch Canals at Northumberland.
The engineers who designed and built the Susquehanna Division included: Simeon Guilford, Hother Hage, with canal office at Liverpool, Francis W. Rawle, and A .B. Waterford. Work began in 1827 and was completed in 1831. This division had 12 locks (90 feet x 17 feet) raising the canal boats 86 feet from the Clark's Ferry slack water pool to the Northumberland Basin. It formed an important link between the southern canal divisions and the canal divisions in the northern part of the state.
Today, this canal is covered by or closely followed by US 22 and US 11. At Clark's Ferry, the outlet lock was just downstream of the west end of the present US 22 bridge. Proceeding west, US 22 is on the canal to about halfway west on Duncan's Island. At that point, the highway and canal routes separate with the canal following the tree line that is south of the highway. At the separation, Raisners's Lock is intact behind the house and buildings south of the highway. At the junction between US 22 and US 11, the junction basin and Lock 1 of the Juniata Division are intact in the woods on the southwest side of the interchange. Proceeding north on US 11, the highway is generally on top of the canal with prism occasionally visible. The prism is somewhat east of the highway at the road to the Millersburg Ferry. At Mahantango Creek, the canal is somewhat west of the highway and the lock (south of the creek) and aqueduct ruins are in the woods. Some sections of intact canal are visible north of here. "
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See Photos of the Locks Along The West Branch of the Canal, between Northumberland and Lock Haven, here:
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Stories & History From Selinsgrove, Pa
For More Local History & Stories From Nearby Towns:
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Susquehanna Division, Pennsylvania
The Susquehanna Division of the Pennsylvania Canal goes from Duncan’s Island on the west bank of the Susquehanna River to Northumberland, where the two large branches of that stream unite, as do the two canals that run along them. The length of the Susquehanna Division is 39 miles. Its fall is 86½, and there are 12 locks. The division is 43 feet wide at the water surface and 4½ feet deep. Its lock chambers are 90 feet long and 17 feet wide. It was completed in 1831 at a cost of $1,039,257.
Traffic on the canal remains very small and is not nearly sufficient to cover the annual costs of maintenance. The same applies more or less to all the state canals except for the Delaware Division and the Main Line between Columbia and Pittsburgh.
Franz Anton Ritter Von Gerstner, Frederick C. Gamst (ed.) and David J. Diephouse and John C. Decker (translators), Early American Railroads: Franz Anton Ritter von Gerstner’s “Die Innern Communicationen (1842-1843),” (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1997), 545
Girtys Notch, along the Susquehanna Trail
Miniature Canal Boats built by John Sheets of Liverpool in 1887.
In 1945 the boats were on display at Rolling Green Park. They were donated to the State Museum in Harrisburg for display in the transportation wing.
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From the Charles Fasold Collection
"The abandoned Pennsylvania Canal lock near Mahantango Creek at the southern end of Snyder County, where it borders Juniata County. The structure in the rear is the old Weiser canal hotel, referred to as "Weiser's Folly". Built by Jacob Weiser in 1873, the large, three-story brick structure functioned as a hotel, general store, and post office. Dwindling canal traffic in the later years of the 1800s fueled its demise. The canal officially ceased operations on January 1, 1901, and was drained in the spring. View is looking south, with US 11-15 on the left."
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• Shank, William H., The Amazing Pennsylvania Canals, (York, PA: American Canal and Transportation Center, 1981), pp. 49-50.
• Smeltzer, Gerald, Canals Along the Lower Susquehanna (1796-1900), York, PA: The Historical Society of York County, 1963). Paperbound, 140 pages.
Thank you for posting Heather. My husband's great grandfather was a boatman.
ReplyDeleteGreat grandfather, Franklin Reif, and grandfather, Adam Reif, are pictured with the canal boat mentioned previously. John Dennis Reif
ReplyDelete