The little-known story of when Newtown vied for the Delaware Canal
It comes down to the number 100.
That’s why excavation of the Delaware Canal didn’t go through Newtown to reach Easton in the 19th century. Borough citizens were eager to have it. Yet it was not to be. To understand what happened requires a visit to 1825.
The Erie Canal in New York State had just opened and provided a revenue bonanza getting products to market in the Midwest. Pennsylvania Gov. George Wolf and the Legislature fretted being left behind. So, in 1827 they approved the start of a 1,200-mile network of interconnected canals linking Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Lake Erie. One of them was a hand-dug channel to link Philadelphia with Easton and Pocono Mountain coal mines. Folks in Bristol argued the best route would follow the Delaware River from the borough to Easton. Coal shipped down the canal could easily continue the journey to Philly on the river estuary.
Vying with Bristol’s plan was an alternative favored by Newtown. The canal would follow Neshaminy Creek from its tidewater mouth at the Delaware in Croydon to the confluence of Newtown Creek behind today’s George School. There it would follow the tributary into the center of town and continue northeast across farmlands below Jericho Mountain to Knowles Creek merging with Stony Run in Upper Makefield. The canal would follow the stream to the Delaware behind today’s Pineapple Hill B&B. It then would proceed parallel to the river the rest of the way to Easton. There were major advantages. A canal through Newtown would better serve most of the county’s population. Also, boats from Easton would arrive closer to their Philadelphia destination.
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To settle the matter, the state created two teams of surveyors. One plotted the Bristol route, mapping a 60-mile corridor with 23 locks to successively lower the boats to sea level at Bristol. The second team surveying the Newtown route came to a startling conclusion: Newtown’s elevation was 100 feet higher than Easton. Boats leaving the city would first have to be raised with a system of locks to reach Newtown, and then be lowered through more locks to reach the Neshaminy and the Delaware. That elevation difference killed the plan.
On Oct. 20, 1827, a groundbreaking occurred ― in Bristol.
It was a Saturday, a “jubilee occasion” as someone put it. Spectators jammed the borough, among them Col. Condy Raguet, charge d’affairs of Brazil. A parade assembled at 11 a.m., led by structural engineers with their instruments and laborers with hand tools and wheelbarrows. Following were local, county and state officials plus a band. At the site of what was to become Lock 3 near Beaver Street, state Rep. George Harrison of Hulmeville arrived with an empty wheelbarrow. Beside him was state Sen. Peter Ihrie Jr. of Easton who carried a pick and shovel. Ihrie loaded the wheelbarrow with dirt; Harrison pushed it away and dumped it. The band played “Hail Columbia” followed by three lusty cheers. The crowd adjourned to the Delaware House beside the river seven blocks away. Several hundred dined, “made speeches and got happy under the music of opposing (champagne) corks,” according to historian Albright Zimmerman.
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Work on the canal began in earnest in the spring. It took four years. The first boatload of coal departed Easton for Bristol in 1832. Before long, 3,000 mule-towed boats navigated the canal daily. As projected, the channel churned up fortunes for a century before closing in October 1931. Today, the shallow waterway, dormant locks, rusting gears, and stone towpath symbolize Bucks County’s role in the Industrial Revolution.
Alas, Newtown was bypassed. Had it come to be, imagine how in modern times it might have become an ersatz San Antonio with canal boats meandering through downtown where waterfront cafes and boutiques would have catered to visitors.
Sources include “Pennsylvania’s Delaware Division Canal: Sixty Miles of Euphoria and Frustration” by Allbright G. Zimmerman, and “Place Names in Bucks County” by George MacReynolds.
Carl LaVO can be reached at carllavo0@msn.com. Carl and grandson Dashiell are scheduled for a book signing at the Newtown Bookshop on Nov. 16 at 6:30 p.m. The two co-authored “Bucks County Adventures for Kids” published in August. Information: www.newtownbookshop.com/ or call 215-968-2400.
This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: When Newtown vied for the Delaware Canal and why the effort failed
