Leiper Canal

Leiper Canal

A network of east-west canals and connecting railroads spanned Pennsylvania from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh. North-south canals connecting with this east-west canal ran between West Virginia and Lake Erie on the west, Maryland and New York in the center, and along the border with Delaware and New Jersey on the east. Many shorter canals connected cities such as York, Port Carbon, and Franklin to the larger network.

Map of historic Pennsylvania canals and connecting railroads
Specifications
Locks 3
Status Historic, abandoned
History
Original owner George Leiper
Date completed 1829
Date closed 1852
Geography
Start point Leiper stone quarry near Springfield
End point Delaware River at Eddystone
Connects to Delaware River

Early in the 19th century, the Leiper Canal ran about 3 miles (5 km)[1] along Crum Creek in Delaware County, Pennsylvania. George Leiper, who financed the canal, used it between 1829 and 1852 to haul stone in flat-bottomed boats from his quarry near Springfield to the navigable Delaware River at Eddystone. The system, which had three locks, replaced an industrial tramway.[2] Crum Creek's mouth is at 39°51′28″N 75°19′14″W / 39.85778°N 75.32056°W / 39.85778; -75.32056 (Crum Creek mouth)Coordinates: 39°51′28″N 75°19′14″W / 39.85778°N 75.32056°W / 39.85778; -75.32056 (Crum Creek mouth).[3]

The horse-drawn tramway, the Leiper Railroad, carried stone from the quarry for 18 years before the opening of the canal.[4] The tramway was built by Leiper's father, Thomas Leiper, whose request to build a canal in 1791 was denied by the Pennsylvania Legislature. However, the Legislature of 1824 approved a second canal proposal by Thomas Leiper, and the construction project was carried out by his son.[5] The Leiper Canal was one of several privately funded canals such as the Union Canal and the Schuylkill Canal that operated in Pennsylvania during the same era as the Pennsylvania Canal.

The Thomas Leiper Estate was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1970.[6] The Thomas Leiper House has been turned into a public museum in Wallingford.[7]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ This is the distance from the Thomas Leiper House, 521 Avondale Road in Wallingford, Pennsylvania, to the confluence of Crum Creek with the Delaware River.
  2. ↑ Shank, William H. (1986). The Amazing Pennsylvania Canals, 150th Anniversary Edition. York, Pennsylvania: American Canal and Transportation Center. p. 74. ISBN 0-933788-37-1.
  3. ↑ "Crum Creek". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey. August 2, 1979. Retrieved March 20, 2009.
  4. ↑ McMasters, John Bach (1920). A History of the People of the United States from the Revolution to the Civil War. New York and London: D. Appleton and Company. p. 494.
  5. ↑ "Nether Providence Through the Years". Nether Providence Historical Society. Retrieved November 11, 2007.
  6. ↑ Staff (2010-07-09). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  7. ↑ "Delaware County History: Historic Sites". delcohistory.org. Retrieved January 20, 2008.

External links

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