Bucks County Herald – April 20, 2006

Will Rivinus Delaware Canal

Dear Friends,

Good morning. In 1820, no one would have believed that New York City was poised to eclipse Philadelphia as America’s largest city ad principal port. But the building of the 360-mile Erie Canal from Buffalo to Albany in 1825 changed America’s freight and transportation system forever. Philadelphia never recovered.

With that introduction, Will Rivinus charted the history, past and present of the Delaware Canal…most particularly why it was built in 1831. The Solebury resident and author invited me to a breakfast meeting at Trinity Church [Solebury]. I’d read Rivinus’ pamphlet, “Guide to the Delaware Canal,” and knew his talk would be fascinating. It was.

There were 30 or so gathered at Trinity. I saw friends, Tim Coffee and Ashby Saunders. Bill Rorer, a forme Navy submariner and President of Delaware Valley College, was working hard in the kitchen. Rodney “Monty” Montgomery still looks like a million bucks. He was a Marine pilot in World War II and Korea. And I met Douglas McArthur who rowed at Penn in 1940. He’s still in excellent shape.

As canal boat captains did, Rivinus got our attention by blowing into a conch shell. A boat captain used a conch or a tin horn to warn lock tenders that his canal boat was approaching. “1825 brought fear and trembling to Philadelphia,” Rivinus began, “because the Erie Canal had opened. Just a few years later, Philadelphia lost 50 percent of its [freight] business.”

Discovery of anthracite coal hastened the building of the Delaware Canal from Easton to Bristol. North of Easton, the Lehigh Canal brought coal 46 miles from Mauch Chunk (Jim Thorp) to the Delaware. “The first half [of the canal] from Bristol to New Hope opened in 1831,” the Guide tells us. The canal reached Easton a year later.

“Over the 60 miles, the Delaware Canal drops 165 feet through 23 locks plus two outlets,” the Guide explains. “The length includes nine aqueducts where the canal is carried over a small valley or stream.” The whole system was built at a cost of $1.4 million and at its peak in 1855, 1.2 millions of coal was transported down the Lehigh and Delaware Canals.

“The Delaware Canal was busiest during the Civil War,” Rivinus continued. “Three thousand boats moved coal, lumber, building stone, lime, cement, iron and produce to market.” Alas, the advent of the railroad and the discovery of oil rendered the Delaware Canal obsolete. “By 1931, the canal lay derelict,” he added. “Once coal died, the canal died.”

But the canal refused to give up the ghost. An advocacy group, Friends of the Delaware Canal, was formed and help was on the way. In 1988, the canal and the River Road, which parallels it, was included in the national scenic drives. “River Road is one of the 10 most scenic drives in America,” Rivinus noted. He believes that the canal receives more than a million visitors yearly.

Unfortunately, the hurricanes of 2004 and 2005 ruined portions of both the canal and River Road. “But the wheels are grinding slowly forward for its total repair at $23 million,” Rivinus predicts. “The projects will go out to bid this summer and work is due next year,” he said. “This will be the largest earth-moving project in the Delaware Valley since the canal was built.”

How about that!

Rivinus expects the feds, via Fema, to deliver on its promise of $17 million for canal restoration. Let us pray!

At the meeting, he introduced and praised Randy Apgar, a former President of the Friends of the Delaware Canal. By the way, you can become a member as well. Just write to Friends of the Delaware at 145 South Main St., New Hope 18938. E-mail: fodc@erols.com and the website is www.fodc.com. “Guide to the Delaware Canal” can be ordered through Rivinus at 6832 Paxson Rd., New Hope. The Guide is in its eighth edition.

The Delaware Canal has to be one of Bucks County’s most important historic treasures.

Sincerely,

Charles Meredith