The Amazing Pennsylvania Canals by William H Shank, PE, is true to its title. I was astonished to learn that the canal boom of the early 1800’s was so extensive. This map scanned from the book displays all 1,243 miles of public and private canals operated in PA. Not all the systems worked concurrently. The Sandy and Beaver Canal which starts across the river from Georgetown is shown branching into Ohio along a former Indian trail leading to the Moravian villages.
Map of the Connecting Canal Systems in PA (The Amazing Pennsylvania Canals by William H Shank, PE)
The connecting canal systems opened an avenue of transportation between the East and Ohio River Valley before the contrivance of railroads. In 1837 Capt Jacob Poe commanded the str Beaver No 2 in the Allegheny River trade transporting passengers and freight between Pittsburgh and various canal stops. Many of the “ports” along the canal system routes developed into sizable thriving communities: Freeport, Johnstown, Hollidaysburg, and Middletown in PA and Fredericktown and Hanoverton in OH.
Railroads signaled the demise of the canal systems and the bustling towns along the canal routes beginning in the 1850′s. Today virtually all that remains of this grand past are ruins of various canal locks and National Historic Trust homes and taverns that have been saved such as the Spread Eagle Tavern in Hanoverton, OH and Union Canal House near Hershey, PA.
The first edition of The Amazing Pennsylvania Canals was published in 1960. My booklet is the third edition printed in Oct 1973.
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