The Delaware and Raritan Canal

By Linda J. Barth

Book Overview

For nearly one hundred seventy years, the Delaware and Raritan Canal has meandered across the narrow waist of New Jersey through bustling cities, suburban towns, and rural landscapes. One of the most successful towpath canals in the United States, the Delaware and Raritan carried more tonnage in 1866 than the famous Erie Canal. Transporting mainly anthracite coal, the Delaware and Raritan also stimulated industries as diverse as Roebling's wire-rope factory in Trenton, Johnson & Johnson pharmaceuticals in New Brunswick, and Fleischmann's Distillery in East Millstone. Today, as the centerpiece of the Delaware and Raritan Canal State Park, the canal provides the people of central New Jersey with both a water supply and a premier recreational facility.The Delaware and Raritan Canal introduces you to this manmade waterway through some two hundred historical photographs and postcards.

In these pages, discover the locks, aqueducts, and machinery that enabled the waterway to transport military men and supplies between New York and Philadelphia during three wars. See how inventor John Holland used the canal to deliver his Holland VI submarine to Washington for its naval trials and how luxury yachts, including J.P. Morgan's Tarantula, cruised the waterway. The Delaware and Raritan Canal documents a historical and recreational gem in the heart of New Jersey.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0738510815
• ISBN13: 9780738510811
• Release Date: September 2002
• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing (SC)
• Length: 128 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 6.5" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Pictures from the Past

I grew up along the banks of the Delaware & Raritan Canal, swimming and fishing in it, hiking along it, escaping to it from the rest of the world. As much fun as we had there, our parents told tales from the glory days of the Canal, when mules pulled barges along it, when commercial traffic was a daily activity, when it was half drained in the winter so people skated up and down its length. This book relives those glory days in wonderful photos with just enough text to make the journey absolutely enjoyable. I recommend a visit to this by-gone era, which to me is wonderful, personal history.

Pictures of the Past

I grew up along the banks of the Delaware and Raritan Canal. We swam in it, fished in it, and hung out along it. As important as it was to us growing up, we were always told stories by our parents of the Canal's glory days, when mules still pulled barges, when commerce moved along it, when they drained half of it in the winter to let people skate on it. This book does a wonderful job of presenting those glory days, and the full history in marvelous old photos with just enough text to make the journey complete. All in all, a wonderful lesson in history that is very personal to me.