Uniting Western and Eastern PA: The Union Canal

By: Kevin Dahms, Spring 2010

It's a mild and sunny Saturday afternoon in March. It's not usually this nice out
this time of year in Middletown, PA. As you look out the window of the old
locomotive passenger car, you see a body of water, possibly a creek, running
alongside of the tracks. Suddenly, a voice interrupts the steady “chugga-chugga”
coming from the wheels below the floor.

“Now if you folks turn your focus to the windows on the left hand side of the
train, you'll see what is left of the once great Union Canal!”

You're aboard the “Milk and Honey Line”, an excursion train that loops around
Middletown to Hummelstown. That was the conductor who startled you as he
narrates the scenery outside the train throughout the roughly eleven mile
journey. Now, why would there be an excursion train in the middle of Lebanon
County? The conductor gave it away. As it turns out, the very tracks that are
running beneath you were constructed in 1890 along what was once a tow path
for mules. And that “creek” running just outside of your window is actually the
Union Canal whose boats were pulled by those very mules.

The Union Canal was the first canal surveyed in the United States between 1762
and 1770 and it's tunnel, the Union Canal Tunnel, is the oldest transportation
tunnel, still existing, in the country. You can find it, or it's remains, along its eighty
mile path which stretch from the Susquehanna River in Middletown, to The
Schuylkill River, in Reading. Yes, the same Schuylkill River that runs through
Philadelphia. And yes, the Susquehanna River that heads East to Pittsburgh. I
think you can see the significance here.

The completion of the canal created a direct link between Pennsylvania's two
powerhouses, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, in a time when water was the only
alternative to horseback in terms of trade transportation. However, once railroads
boomed and began to crisscross the state, the canal closed. So in short, the Union
Canal is an abandoned towpath canal that existed in the 19th century connecting
Philadelphia with the Susquehanna River.

The idea for a canal linking the two bodies of water was first proposed way back in
1690 by William Penn of Philadelphia. Speaking of Philadelphia, he is widely
known as the key figure in planning and developing the city in colonial times, so
to say the least, he knew what he was doing.

Unfortunately, it wasn't until the 1670s that the canal was actually surveyed. To
be exact, surveying is defined as “accurately determining the terrestrial or three-
dimensional space position of points and the distances and angles between
them.“ So, when David Rittenhouse and William Smith began the process, its
understandable that it took 8 years (finished in 1670), especially doing so without
any previous precedents, at least in the country.
First as the “Schuylkill and Susquehanna Canal Company”, the company first broke
ground in 1672, under the direction of William Weston, an English Engineer who
had previous experience working with canals. Workers labored hard enough to get
a few miles dug, and even build five locks. Unfortunately, a lack of funds halted
construction. A photograph of the second lock above Reading is shown, along with
a photograph of what one of the original locks looks like today, algae and all.

“And again, outside your left side windows”, the conductor announces ”you
folks can get a look at what is left of one of the original canal locks. Now for
those of you who are unfamiliar with the term, canal locks are devices for raising
and lowering boats between the stretches of water. “

In 1811 the company got back together, this time under the name “Union Canal
Company of Pennsylvania”. However, construction didn't start up again until
1821. This time, the rest of the eighty mile canal, along with its 102 locks, was
completed in 1828.

With the completion of the canal, many jobs opportunities arose. To feed water
from the Swatara Creek to the highest point in Lebanon, a pumping station was
necessary. An entire community, known as Water Works developed around the
pumping station in North Annville Township of Lebanon, PA. Consensuses from
1850-1890 reveal men working as canal superintendent, canal manager, lock
keeper, weighmaster, boatman, steamhouse tender, engineer, and boat maker.

Up until the 1850s, everything went smoothly for the canal. However, it became
apparent that the locks needed to be enlarged to accommodate larger boat sizes.
Under the direction of engineer Laommi Baldwin Jr., the canal was widened by
seventeen feet from 1841 – 1858 which really allowed it to prosper through the
1860s. In his “Engineer's Report”, dated January 31st 1853, James Worrall, chief
engineer, includes the following table. It outlines the goods, along with its
amount, that passed through the canal in 1852.

Tons
Anthracite Coal 65913
Iron Ore 18677
Lumber 17640
Iron 13841
Grain 9247
Limestone 7165
Butuminous coal 5140
Flour 2774
Lime 1649
Shingles 1610
Plaster 1380
Cordwood 1306
Salt 776
Charcoal 500
Merchandise 340
Fish 223
Sundries 3962
Total 152143

Unfortunately, the widening of the canal marked the beginning of the end. Though
the 1860s saw a brief period of prosperity, the cost to perform the enlargening
was tough for the company to swallow. It was a necessary process. Also, a flood
severely damaged the primary supply dam of the Northern branch, a major source
of revenue. The final nail in the coffin was the completion of the Lebanon railroad,
connecting Harrisburg with Reading, forcing the canal to close permanently in
1885.

Despite closing, the Union Water Works community remained a vibrant

community. An elementary school, Union Canal Elemtary School, in Lebanon
County is named after it. The Union Canal Tunnel was constructed thorugh a ridge
seperating Quittapahilla Creek and Clark's Run. This was only the second tunnel of
it's kind built in the country. Purchased by the Lebanon County Historical Society
in April 1950, the tunnel now on the National Register of Historic Places. It's also
designated a National Historic Landmark and a National Historic Civil Engineering
Landmark.

As the conductor reminds you that the tour is coming to a close, therefore ending
the narrated portion of the journey, you sit back and relax as the accordionist in
the back of the car plays the Pennsylvania polka. You notice the wild oats growing
on the outskirts of the train tracks. These wild oats were sown from the falling
seeds of the feed bags the mules ate from. Serving as a reminder of long and
winding towpath that paralleled Pennsylvania's great golden link.