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The Delaware & Hudson Transportation Heritage Council
The Delaware & Hudson Transportation Heritage Council is
a partnership of public, private and not-for-profit organizations committed
to the appreciation and preservation of the historic resources of the Delaware
and Hudson Canal and Gravity Railroad. |
Roebling’s Aqueducts Celebration — April 27th
The first crossing of the Roebling Aqueducts over the Lackawaxen and Delaware Rivers occurred on April 26, 1849.
This year marks the 175th anniversary of the event.
Admission at $25 per person will include:
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10:00 - 11:30 am |
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Walking Tour of Roebling’s Delaware Aqueduct with Paul C. King, Professor and Historian. Welcome by National Park Service. |
12:00 - 1:00 pm |
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Buffet Lunch of canal-era recipes at the New Inn at Lackawaxen, 188 Scenic Drive, Lackawaxen, PA |
1:00 - 2:00 pm |
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Introductions and talk by John Conway, Sullivan County Historian. |
2:00 - 3:00 pm |
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Canal music with a sing-a-long by Dan Engvaldsen. |
3:00 - 4:00 pm |
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Presentations by Bill Merchant, President of Delaware & Hudson Transportation Heritage Council, and Paul C. King. |
This celebration will be held rain or shine. Act quickly since capacity is limited. |
To reserve by the April 19 deadline, please provide names to D&HTHC Secretary Laurie Ramie at laurie@upperdelawarecouncil.org or call (845) 252-3022 with advance payment via check or electronic payment.
Tickets are $25 per person.
Make checks out to the Delaware & Hudson Transportation Heritage Council (D&HTHC), and mail to:
Laurie Ramie, D&HTHC Secretary
Upper Delaware Council
PO Box 192
Narrowsburg, NY 12764
Or, make a payment for the total amount of tickets using:
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Support for this volunteer-coordinated event was gratefully contributed by: Lackawaxen Township ($500); Sullivan County, NY ($300); Historic Preservation Trust of Pike County, The Lackawaxen River Conservancy, Upper Delaware Council, Rowland
Cooperative, The Delaware Company, D&H Transportation Heritage Council, The New Inn at Lackawaxen, Rohman’s Pub (all at $200); and Woodloch Pines ($150).
Buffet Lunch will include “Pork Float Stew” (an authentic canal era recipe) as well as filet of sole in a lemon butter sauce, sliced roast pork, vegetarian chili, red roasted potatoes, rice pilaf, vegetables, Caesar salad, coffee, tea, and soft drinks. A cash bar will be offered.
Aqueducts Significance
When the first boat crossed the Lackawaxen and Delaware Aqueducts on April 26, 1849, expectant crowds gathered to witness the event. The opening of these new aqueducts signaled a new chapter for the Delaware & Hudson Canal.
The D&H Canal and Gravity Railroad was an important and successful American enterprise throughout the latter three-quarters of the 19th Century, supplying much-needed anthracite coal to New York City and beyond.
This coal had a significant impact in the economic development and industrialization of both Pennsylvania and New York City.
The D&H Company embraced innovation, which helped foster its prosperity. They hired engineer John Augustus Roebling, who had previously supplied the wire rope that was used on the Gravity Railroad, to design and oversee construction of four suspension aqueducts. These aqueducts would carry the canal’s traffic over the Lackawaxen, Delaware, and Neversink Rivers, and over Rondout Creek.
John A. Roebling, considered the father of the American wire cable suspension bridge, would go on to design the famous Brooklyn Bridge.
Today, the Roebling’s Delaware Aqueduct located in Lackawaxen, PA and Minisink Ford, NY is the oldest existing wire suspension bridge in the United States and the only one of the four Roebling aqueducts built for the D&H Canal to continue to function as an active bridge. |
The D&H Transportation Heritage Council is listed on the National
Geographic Scenic, Wild Delaware River MapGuide. |
2018 Brochure
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2024 Quarterly Meeting Dates for D&H THC
Next Meeting: Wed., April 24, 2024
D&H Canal Historical Society & Museum at
1315 NY-213, High Falls, NY 12440
Details to come.
Contact Secretary Laurie Ramie at laurie@upperdelawarecouncil.org
by Friday, April 19 to reserve for the walk and lunch.
DHTHC Code of Etthics
D&H Canal and Gravity Railroad Enthusiasts Invited to Show Support
The D&H Transportation Heritage Council is now
accepting memberships from individuals who support the mission of preserving
the
history and promoting appreciation of a great engineering feat of pre-industrial
America....
– Laurie Ramie, Secretary
Click
for Press Release
The Delaware and Hudson Canal and Gravity Railroad, a 124-mile
long long transportation system between the Lackawanna Valley in Pennsylvania
and the Hudson River, was one of America's first million-dollar private
enterprise. The construction of this transportation system was a significant
engineering feat of pre-industrial America.
Through the D&H Canal--a 108-mile long, man-made waterway, consisting
of 108 locks--millions of tons of anthracite coal were shipped from Honesdale,
PA, to Eddyville on the Rondout Creek near the villages of Kingston and Rondout.
From there, the coal was shipped down the Hudson River to New York and up
the river to the Erie Canal and also to Canada.
The D&H Gravity Railroad--a 16-mile long railroad, consisting of inclined
planes and levels, connected the coal fields in the Lackawanna Valley with
the D&H Canal at Honesdale. At the head of each of the inclined planes
on this rail line was a stationary steam engine that pulled the rail cars
up and over the Moosic Mountain, the summit of which is almost 1,000 feet
above the valley floor where the rail line began.
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Carbondale Waymart Honesdale White Mills Hawley Barryville Pond Eddy
Sparrowbush Port Jervis Hugeunot Cuddebackville Wurtsboro Summitville Philipsport
Ellenville Port Benjamin Alligerville High Falls Rosendale and Eddyville
These are just some of the towns whose prosperity was directly affected by
the D&H Canal. In fact, many of them would not exist today if it were
not for the canal. The Statue of Liberty, the Brooklyn Bridge, the sidewalks
of many of the major cities of the east, the uniforms of the Union soldiers
and the explosive growth of NYC in the 1800s, to name just a few things,
were all made possible by the D&H Canal.
The canal is an integral part of the history of this country and particularly
this region. Unfortunately, its importance is greatly under appreciated,
as is evidenced by the continuing destruction of what is left of it. When
we hear statements like, “I don’t know why someone hasn’t
filled that ditch in before now”, or, “Why are you trying to preserve
what’s left? It’s been closed longer than it was open”, it
becomes apparent that appreciation for how we got here is sorely lacking.
I firmly believe that if we can get people walking along the route, standing
inside a 100’ long dried laid stone lock, marveling at the sheer size
of it, appreciating the effort it took to build a 30’ wall straight
up from a river’s ledge, designing an ingenious rail system that used
gravity as the primary energy, and all of it without backhoes and GPS systems
and laser transits and water pumps, then interest in the history of the canal,
gravity railroad and the area will increase.
Washington Irving once said that if this canal was in Europe it would be
world famous. It isn’t. It follows the valleys created by the Lackawaxen,
Upper Delaware, Neversink and Rondout rivers, not exactly populous areas.
But that should not diminish its importance. Hopefully one day soon we will
have hundreds, if not thousands, walking this route once again. Perhaps they
can bring back, not just nostalgia, but some of the prosperity that left
with the closing of the canal.
With the efforts of groups like the Upper Delaware Council and others, including
the D&H Transportation Heritage Council, it could become a reality sooner
than later.
(Excerpt of a speech given by Cliff Robinson Jr., President of
The Delaware and Hudson Canal and Gravity Railroad Conservancy to the Upper
Delaware Council in 2010.) |
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