The West Branch Canal In Milton, Pa
Today, Filbert Street in Milton runs where the Canal once ran through the town of Milton. In the above photo, The Shimer Building (the building still stands today, at the corner of Filbert and Race Streets) is shown on the left. [Maps of the canal in Milton ate at the bottom of this post]
The 1978 application for the National Register of Historical Places included a note that "restoration of the canal" was being contemplated. [unfortunately, that did not occur]
"The canal is to be restored by constructing buildings of the federal period along it, housing apartments, businesses, and offices. The towing path would be incorporated into a bicycle and hiking pathway which should eventually pass through Milton in accordance with Pennsylvania state plans to provide recreational facilities along old canal and railroad sites." - Dr Sidney Davis. - February 18, 1978
1837 Sketch of the canal at Milton
For an overview of the entire West Branch Canal, see the post here:
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The Lock & Lock Tender's House
10.2 Miles Lock #17 6.12 Foot Lift Milton, including Limestone Run Aqueduct
The Lock was near Cameron Avenue where W.C. Fortney, better known as “Cappy,” manned the lock tender’s house. In the same neighborhood, the boat yard of Mathias Strine & Sons was located just south of Ferry Lane, between the canal and Cherry Street.
Milton Lock #17 - Looking North 1880
This picture was taken from the Cameron Avenue bridge, looking north, when the canal was still in use. The lock tender’s house is on the left, facing Cherry Street. Note the large wooden lock gates with their balance beams, used to manually open the gates, and the bridge over the canal to allow access to the beam on the opposite side.
Milton Lock #17 - Looking South 1901
This picture was taken after the canal was closed. The lock tender's house is on the right, facing Cherry Street. The location was just north of Cameron Avenue, looking south. It can be seen at the bottom of the Milton map of 1870. The West Branch Division of the Pennsylvania Canal System was completed from Northumberland to Muncy on Oct. 2, 1830 and was closed in 1901.
Milton Lock #17 - Looking North
Picture from the book "Milton, Pennsylvania, the 19th Century Town on Limestone Run" by Homer F. Folk.
The lock tender's house is on the left, facing Cherry Street. The location was just north of Cameron Avenue, looking north. In this photo, the canal has been closed, and the lock has fallen into disrepair.
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The Aqueduct
1883 Map
Showing the canal, and Limestone Run
"But just below this, and near the old boat yard, was the aqueduct, when the top of the water, was near the planking and the water itself was deep, hhis spot was really like a large swimming pool arid it I shared in popularity with the other places."
Limestone Run Aqueduct 1895
[From NRHP Application]
"Besides the deep, cool water, for diving and swimming, there was a water fall that was a real treat. The old grist mill on the river bank got its power by diverting some of the water of Limestone Run. The "run" dammed at the meadow and part of the stream by an artificial gulch was carried under the canal over to the mill. The overflow at this dam made the waterfall, and boys could sit under it on hot days and get a shower bath that present Miltonians would pay money for. Where the "run" ran under the canal was another waterfall, caused by the overflow of the canal and it was only a short swim and wade to reach this delightful spot. A path ran closely by the mill race from Filbert to Back street and when I read George Eliot's "Mill on the Floss," I couldn't keep this little rural picture out of my mind." - J.P. Kohler
Looking at the East Side of the Aqueduct 1977
Although often the word "aqueduct" conjures images of canal boats being moved over a bridge, in this case, aqueduct means "structure used to conduct a water stream across a hollow or valley" - in this case - moving Limestone Creek across the canal.
Looking at the West Side of the Aqueduct, 1977
"This aqueduct was built between 1829 and 1830 by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The contractors and builders were McCormick and Montgomery. The engineer was Francis W. Rawle.
The single span of 20 feet is constructed of stone and wood with an overall width of 75 feet, a trunk width of 30 feet, and a height of 7 feet.
The stone abutments are in good condition although they have been used as footers for a railroad bridge.' - 1977 Application, NRHP
According to the 1977 application, the liner is still there.
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Stories , History & Photos
Stories , History & Photos
From When Milton Had A Canal:
April 1829 - John Deeter built the first canal boat along the west branch more than a year before the Canal was completed through his town.
July 4, 1834, Capt. John M. Huff loaded his packet boat, the “George Washington,” with more than 100 Miltonians for an excursion on the canal.
Construction of the West Branch canal had begun in 1828, but it was not completed until 1834 - so this trip was 3 years before the West Branch Canal was completed.
Twenty tons [44,000 lbs, roughly] seems like a tremendous amount, but from what I have read, this was somewhat average for the time.
The Cadwallader mentioned here is almost certainly Seth Cadwallader, one of the pioneer merchants in Milton. Born in 1796, he came to Milton about 1812. He married Elizabeth Hammond, and they lived in a home where the Milton Realty Building stands today - at the corner of Front and Broadway.
An interesting side note - Elizabeth's father was George Hammond, was "one of the first settlers of this part of the State". He had been captured by the Indians during the Revolutionary war and turned over to the Hessians, and was held a prisoner five years.
Seth Cadwallader retired from business in 1854. His son Albert, one of 11 children, later built the Milton Realty building on the corner of Broadway and Front Street.
Bells History Of Northumberland County, 1876, page 555, tells us that: "Moodie had a store on the east side of Front street above the bridge the lot immediately below that occupied by the Methodist church. It was that Charles and Thomas Comly conducted business many years as successors to Moodie."
Thomas Comly, born in 1789, was the son of Ezra & Hannah [Iredell] Comly. Seth Cadwallader originally came to Milton to work with his cousin, Seth Iredell - who owned a mill, and was president of the Milton Bank. So the Comly and Cadwaller families were connected, through the Iredell's, but I am still not certain if the canal boat was bringing items to a business owned by Cadawaller and Comley, or if it was delivering items to two separate stores - one owned by Cadwallader, and one owned by Comly. In the 1840s, on he list of retailers in Northumberland County, Seth Comley and Seth Cadwallader were both listed. An Aron Comley also appears on the list in some years.
Canal Boat In Milton Pa
March 10 1864 - Canal bridge at Center street [Milton] opened for travel.
On April 12th 1869 - Canal Boat, Mountain Boy, was launched by George W. Strine for its owner Charles Malady, In Milton.
The ruins of the Methodist Church, 33 Arch Street, along the canal.
The Canal During The 1880 Fire
"Families began to toss belongings into the street and into the canal, in vain attempts to save some of their possessions from the rapidly spreading fire."
"Rev Barnitz, pastor of the ME church, went on the roof of his house to prevent flying cinders from setting it on fire. But he was soon warned to descend and save his own life. When he came down, he was surrounded by flames. He hurried back to the canal at the rear of the parsonage and found a woman who was stranded in the path of the fire. Together they went into the waters of the canal. They were in the water for more than an hour before they "found a place to land that was not on fire"."
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See more about the fire that wiped out the entire town if Milton, in 1880:
Canal at Mahoning Street looking north 1898
Locust Alley is to the right of the canal. Filbert Street now runs in the approximate location of Locust Alley. There is a rope running from the boat to mules on the right towpath, in the shadow of a tree in front of the two-story house. Across the canal on the west side is S. J. Shimer & Sons two-story brick machine shop, with a high board fence surrounding their manufacturing complex.
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Canal Bridge on Walnut Street
This view is to the west, with the First Presbyterian Church in the background. The bridges were about 10 feet above street level. The Klapp & Lucas Carriage Works is visible over the top of the bridge. The picture was probably taken in the late 1880s.
Mill Street (now Arch) and Canal North from Broadway 1895
The stone building with the ramp was the William K. Wertman Carriage Works, but by the time this picture was taken, it was the home of West Branch Novelty. It can be seen on the map of 1896.
From the book “Milton, Pennsylvania, the 19th Century Town on Limestone Run” by Homer F. Folk
John Rippel’s photograph from his studio on Broadway looking northeast toward Red Hill, showing a portion of Milton around 1895. William Wertman was a victim of the 1880 fire on Broadway. He moved his Carriage Works to Mill Street, and it is his ramp at the rear of the stone building. It was the custom for carriage makers to complete their products on the second floor and bring them down a ramp to ground level.
Bridges over the canal were at every street. Shown are the bridges at Walnut, Upper Market and Locust Streets. At Locust Street, along the right side of the canal is the two-story office of Murray, Dougal & Company - Milton Car Works. Further right is the erection shop, which was built of stone in 1881 at a cost of thirty-one thousand dollars. Today, it is the pressed steel department. In the background, behind the pressed steel building, is the western point of Red Hill. It is here that artists and photographers have captured the history of Milton on paper, plates and film. In 1880 a wooden erection shop was the first to burn when the fire started at the sawmill on the north side of Locust Street.
Broadway in Milton - Metal Canal Bridge in Background
On August 5th 1873 - Cyrus Brown was the first person to drive over the new iron canal bridge on Broadway. Cyrus was the owner of a drug store in Milton Pa. Note - I have no idea who the women are in these photos, but the bridge in the background is the iron canal bridge.
Canal Boat Named The Mauch Chunk (At Milton?)
I have other photos of this boat at Lewisburg, so I am not certain the location of this one is correct.
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Port Milton
By Dr Sidney Davis II
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The Log Basins & Canal At The Car Works [A.C.&F.]
"The upper and lower pools now filled to make room for the car works, were popular swimming places. They were both deep enough for diving and the water in them, being practically still, was a bit warmer than the water elsewhere. These pools were nearly always filled with logs, as the saw mill was then in active operation and swimmers got considerable pleasure from the excitement of running over the logs. The pools then stood far hack from any houses as the upper end of town had few inhabitants and nudity was not banned." J.P. Kohler
View From Red Hill
Canal is to the right of the car company in the above photo - opposite of the description below:
"At Locust Street, along the right side of the canal is the two-story office of Murray, Dougal & Company - Milton Car Works. Further right is the erection shop, which was built of stone in 1881 at a cost of thirty-one thousand dollars. Today, it is the pressed steel department. In the background, behind the pressed steel building, is the western point of Red Hill. It is here that artists and photographers have captured the history of Milton on paper, plates and film.
In 1880 a wooden erection shop was the first to burn when the fire started at the sawmill on the north side of Locust Street."
1907 view, showing the log pond at ACF
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MAPS
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| 1883 Map showing the canal running through Milton |
Close up of the log basin on the 1883 map
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| 1858 Map showing the Canal In Milton |
1860 Map
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READ MORE
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READ MORE
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In the 1920's, Attorney James Pollock Kohler wrote a series of letters about his early years as a boy in Milton Pa. The Miltonian published them under the heading "Reminiscences of Milton by J.P; Kohler".
This letter, published on July 14th 1921 talks about the Swimming Holes in Milton, in the 1860s. It mentions the Bijou movie theater, swimming at Bakers Meadow, the "waterfalls" created by the gristmill, swimming around the logs in the canal ponds, rumors of an alligator, eels, and sand on the island, and much detail about the canal. It's another completely charming read.
"No cooler spot on a hot summer's day could be found then Baker's meadow. It was on Filbert street, below the gas house, between the railroad and the canal. After climbing a rail fence you crossed a patch of grass and came to Limestone Run, on the banks of which, at this time, were numerous large and shady trees and at their roots were deep holes, with cool eddies, that were the joy of boyish hearts. The "Run" at this place has almost entirely disappeared and its course has been changed materially. Besides the deep, cool water, for diving and swimming, there was a water fall that was a real treat. The old grist mill on the river bank got its power by diverting some of the water of Limestone Run. The "run" dammed at the meadow and part of the stream by an artificial gulch was carried under the canal over to the mill. The overflow at this dam made the waterfall, and boys could sit under it on hot days and get a shower bath that present Miltonians would pay money for. Where the "run" ran under the canal was another waterfall, caused by the overflow of the canal and it was only a short swim and wade to reach this delightful spot. A path ran closely by the mill race from Filbert to Back street and when I read George Eliot's "Mill on the Floss," I couldn't keep this little rural picture out of my mind. "
Canal History
From the book "Milton, Pennsylvania, the 19th Century Town on Limestone Run" by Homer F. 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 (1). 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.
Note (1): Limestone Run was diverted from its original southward direction to empty directly into the Susquehanna River just above Mahoning Street.
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From The Milton Sesquicentennial Booklet
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