Beaver and Erie Canal
{{Infobox Canal
|name = Beaver and Erie Canal
|image = Pennsylvania canals.png
|image_caption = Map of historic Pennsylvania canals
|alt =A network of east-west canals and connecting railroads spanned Pennsylvania from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh. North-south canals connecting with this east-west canal ran between West Virginia and Lake Erie on the west, Maryland and New York in the center, and along the border with Delaware and New Jersey on the east. Many shorter canals connected cities such as York, Port Carbon, and Franklin to the larger network.
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|original_owner = Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
|engineer =
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|date_act =
|date_began = 1831
|date_use =
|date_completed = 1844
|date_extended =
|date_closed = 1872
|date_restored =
|len =
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|beam =
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|start_point = Beaver, Pennsylvania
|original_start =
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|end_point = Erie, Pennsylvania
|original_end =
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|branch = Beaver, Shenango, and Conneaut Divisions
|branch_of = Pennsylvania Canal
|connects_to = Ohio River, Sandy and Beaver Canal, Pennsylvania and Ohio Canal, French Creek Feeder, Lake Erie
|locks = 137
|original_num_locks =
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|status = Historic, abandoned
|navigation_authority =
|xfield3 = Designations:
|xvalue3 = {{designation list|embed=yes|designation1=Pennsylvania|designation1_date=1948{{cite web |url=http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/pennsylvania_historical_marker_program/2539/search_for_historical_markers |title=PHMC Historical Markers Search |work=Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission |publisher=Commonwealth of Pennsylvania |format=Searchable database |accessdate=2014-01-25 |archive-date=2016-03-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160321233735/http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/pennsylvania_historical_marker_program/2539/search_for_historical_markers |url-status=dead }}}}
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The Beaver and Erie Canal, also known as the Erie Extension Canal, was part of the Pennsylvania Canal system and consisted of three sections: the Beaver Division, the Shenango Division, and the Conneaut Division. The canal ran {{convert|136|mi|km|0}} north–south near the western edge of the state from the Ohio River to Lake Erie through Beaver County, Lawrence County, Mercer County, Crawford County, and Erie County, Pennsylvania.
The southern terminus of the canal was the confluence of the Beaver River with the Ohio River in Beaver County about {{convert|20|mi|km|0}} downstream from Pittsburgh, and the northern terminus was the city of Erie, in Erie County. The canal needed a total of 137 locks to overcome a change in elevation of {{convert|977|ft|m|0}}.{{cite book | last = Shank | first = William H. | title = The Amazing Pennsylvania Canals, 150th Anniversary Edition | publisher = American Canal and Transportation Center | year = 1986 | location = York, Pennsylvania | isbn=0-933788-37-1}}
History
Construction of the canal was meant to complete a transport network through northwestern Pennsylvania that would connect Lake Erie with the Ohio River; the Main Line of Public Works, a canal which joined Philadelphia to Pittsburgh; and the Erie Canal, which connected Albany, New York, to Lake Erie.{{cite web| title = Erie Extension Canal and Canal Museum | url = http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/legacies/PA/200003467.html | publisher = American Folklife Center, Library of Congress| accessdate = March 20, 2009| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20090305091004/http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/legacies/PA/200003467.html| archivedate= 5 March 2009 | url-status=live}}
The Beaver Division, begun in 1831, extended {{convert|31|mi|km|0}} from Beaver along the Beaver River and the Shenango River to Pulaski. In 1836, work began on the Shenango Division extension of {{convert|61|mi|km}} from Pulaski to Conneaut Lake, and in 1838 contracts were awarded for the Conneaut Division to Erie, {{convert|45|mi|km}} further north. Taking over the Conneaut Division from the state in 1843, the Erie Canal Company finished construction in 1844, when the entire length of the three divisions became open to traffic.
Two east–west canals connected to the Beaver and Erie. New Castle, which the Beaver and Erie served, was the eastern terminus of Pennsylvania and Ohio Canal, which ran {{convert|91|mi|km}} west to the Ohio and Erie Canal in Ohio. Another east–west canal, the French Creek Feeder, brought additional water into Conneaut Lake at the same time it provided a transportation corridor. It ran {{convert|25|mi|km}} from near Meadville, where it connected with the Franklin Line canal of {{convert|22|mi|km}} running along French Creek to Franklin. At its southern terminus near Beaver, the Beaver and Erie was linked by the Ohio River to Pittsburgh and the principal east-west Pennsylvania transportation system of the time, the Main Line of Public Works.
Bringing new business to communities such as Conneautville, which shipped timber and hay to Pittsburgh, the Beaver and Erie Canal was heavily used in its early years but was hard to maintain. Competition from railroads and the collapse of an aqueduct over Elk Creek in Erie County led to the canal's abandonment in 1872.{{cite book | last = Helmreich | first = Jonathan E. | title = The Course of French Creek's History | publisher = French Creek Watershed Research Program | year = 2005 | location = Allegheny College, Meadville, Pennsylvania | url = http://watershed.allegheny.edu/fcwrp/history.htm#rails | accessdate = March 20, 2009 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081105064625/http://watershed.allegheny.edu/fcwrp/history.htm#rails | archive-date = November 5, 2008 | url-status = dead }}
Remnants
Canal sections exist near Shenango River Lake near Hermitage. Well-preserved remains of Lock Number 10 are found in Sharpsville, about a {{convert|0.5|mi|km|1}} south of the Shenango Dam.{{cite web|title=Shenango River Lake |publisher=U.S. Army Corps of Engineers |url=http://www.lrp.usace.army.mil/rec/lakes/shenango.htm |accessdate=November 25, 2007 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071027174448/http://www.lrp.usace.army.mil/rec/lakes/shenango.htm |archivedate=27 October 2007 |url-status=dead |df= }} Maintained for hiking, the Shenango Trail follows the old canal towpath. It runs about {{convert|8|mi|km|0}} along the east side of the Shenango River from Kidd's Mill Covered Bridge to the confluence of Lackawannock Creek and the river.{{cite web | title = Recreation Around the Water | publisher = U.S. Army Corps of Engineers | url = http://www.lrp.usace.army.mil/rec/recland/aroundwa.htm#ShenangoHi | accessdate = November 25, 2007 | archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20071118043648/http://www.lrp.usace.army.mil/rec/recland/aroundwa.htm#ShenangoHi | archivedate = 18 November 2007 | url-status = dead }} Canal artifacts and a replica of a canal boat, the Rufus S. Reed, are on display at the Greenville Canal Museum in Greenville, on the Shenango River {{convert|72|mi|km}} northwest of Pittsburgh.{{cite web | title = Greenville Canal Museum | publisher = Greenville Canal Museum | url = http://www.greenvillecanalmuseum.org/ | accessdate = November 25, 2007 }} Some canal facilities at Bridgewater, at the canal's southern end, remain; they are a part of the Bridgewater Historic District.{{cite web| url = http://www.arch.state.pa.us/| title = National Historic Landmarks & National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania| publisher = ARCH: Pennsylvania's Historic Architecture & Archaeology| format = Searchable database| accessdate = 2009-07-18| archive-date = 2012-10-28| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121028073929/http://www.arch.state.pa.us/| url-status = dead}}
French Creek Feeder
Because Conneaut Lake, fed mainly by springs and small streams, did not have enough water to keep the Beaver and Erie Canal filled at its highest elevation, the state built a feeder canal. The French Creek Feeder, as it was called, ran from a dam built for the purpose on the Bemus farm, {{convert|2|mi|km|0}} north of Meadville. Water from the dam pool, at a higher elevation than the lake, flowed south through Meadville. It crossed French Creek by aqueduct at Shaw's Landing, where locks enabled boats to transfer between the canal and the creek. Beyond the landing, the canal turned northwest and flowed into the lake. Engineering on these projects included raising the Conneaut Lake dam by {{convert|11|ft|m}} and adding another short canal to carry water to a pumping station for the Beaver and Erie. The French Creek Feeder was completed to Meadville in 1828 and reached Conneaut Lake in 1834.
After the Beaver and Erie Canal was abandoned, the dam at Conneaut Lake was lowered. Also abandoned was the French Creek Feeder, though for a while it still flowed through Meadville. The Crawford County Historical Society has preserved a small part of the feeder canal.
Franklin Line
File:French creek at franklin.jpg Downstream from Meadville lay the town of Franklin at the confluence of French Creek with the Allegheny River. Merchants there, concerned that the feeder canal and the main canal would divert business from Franklin, persuaded the state to build a system of locks and dams on French Creek below Shaw's Landing at Meadville. This canal, the Franklin Line, opened in 1833. Although the Franklin Line made it easier for boats to travel between Franklin and Meadville, it made it harder for rafts, which depended on river currents and were too big for the locks. Large boats also had trouble with the locks, and the creek often lacked sufficient water to carry them. In 1837, high water caused severe damage to the short-lived system, which was allowed to decline.
Pymatuning Swamp
The canal passed along a causeway of {{convert|3|mi|km|1}} through what later became Pymatuning State Park at Hartstown, Pennsylvania. The causeway was built through Pymatuning Swamp by the Erie Canal Company, effectively forming the {{convert|600|acre|km2}} of Pymatuning Reservoir west of the canal.{{cite web | title = Historic marker at Hartstown | work = Erie Extension Canal (Hartstown) Image Gallery | publisher = Groundspeak, Inc. | year = 2008 | url = http://www.waymarking.com/gallery/default.aspx?f=1&guid=e6ee80c7-1a6e-416e-a9e3-74ccaea752f4&gid=2 | accessdate = March 2, 2008 }}
Points of interest
See also
References
{{reflist|2}}
External links
- [http://lcweb2.loc.gov/diglib/legacies/PA/200003467.html American Folklife Center, Library of Congress]
- [http://www.topoquest.com/map.asp?lon=-80.3672&lat=41.5192 USGS topographical map at Conneaut Lake from topoquest]
- [http://www.pacanalsociety.org/index.htm Pennsylvania Canal Society]
- [http://www.americancanals.org/ American Canal Society]
- [http://ww2.lafayette.edu/~techclin/canal/ncm/index.html National Canal Museum]
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Category:Transportation buildings and structures in Beaver County, Pennsylvania
Category:Transportation buildings and structures in Lawrence County, Pennsylvania
Category:Transportation buildings and structures in Mercer County, Pennsylvania
Category:Transportation buildings and structures in Crawford County, Pennsylvania
Category:Transportation buildings and structures in Erie County, Pennsylvania