Pennsylvania Canal (North Branch Division)

The first segment of {{convert|55|mi|km|0}} was begun in 1828 and completed in 1831 to Nanticoke Falls. In 1834, a project called the Wyoming Extension increased the canal's length by {{convert|17|mi|km|0}} past Wilkes-Barre to Pittston. A final extension of {{convert|97|mi|km|0}} from Pittston to the New York state line was started in 1836 and finished in 1856.

The complete canal had a total of 43 locks that overcame {{convert|334|ft|m|0}} of elevation between its end points.Shank, pp. 51–52 The southern end was {{convert|420|ft|m}}{{cite web | work = Geographic Names Information System| publisher = United States Geological Survey | date = August 2, 1979 | url = http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic/f?p=gnispq:3:::NO::P3_FID:1190936| title = West Branch Susquehanna River | accessdate = March 19, 2009}} above sea level, and the northern end was at {{convert|754|ft|m}}.{{#tag:ref|Derived by adding the combined lift of the locks, {{convert|334|ft|m}}, to the elevation of the North Branch Susquehanna River (identical to the elevation of the West Branch Susquehanna River) at Northumberland, {{convert|420|ft|m}}.|group=n}}

The privately built Junction Canal of {{convert|18|mi|km|0}} linked the North Branch Canal to Elmira. There the Junction Canal connected with the Chemung Canal, which led north to Seneca Lake and the Erie Canal. Through these connections, boats using the Pennsylvania Canal system were able to travel as far as Buffalo and Lake Champlain.

In 1858, the canal from Northampton Street in Wilkes-Barre to the state line was sold to the North Branch Canal Company, which in turn sold it to the Lehigh Valley Railroad in 1865. The railroad laid tracks along portions of the canal towpath and operated both until 1872, when it was authorized by the state legislature to close the canal.{{cite book|title=Appeal of Harris et al.|pages=189–190|series=Weekly Notes of Cases Argued and Determined in the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania|volume=XXI|date=March 29, 1888|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uz-TAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA189}}

File:Hanging rock North Branch Canal.jpg in about 1890–1901]]

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| 4 || {{convert|5.51|ft|m|}}|| {{convert|23.1|mi|km}} || Bloomsburg

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| 5 || {{convert|9.63|ft|m}} || {{convert|30.0|mi|km}} || Stoneytown

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| 6 || {{convert|8.48|ft|m}} || {{convert|36.2|mi|km}} || Berwick

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| 7 || {{convert|8.92|ft|m}} || {{convert|39.3| mi|km}} || Beach Haven

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| 8 || {{convert|1.93|ft|m}} ||{{convert| 55.8|mi|km}} || Guard lock at Nanticoke

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In 1863, the New York Legislature authorized construction of another canal, the Chenango Canal Extension, meant to run about {{convert|40|mi|km}} along the North Branch Susquehanna River from Binghamton, New York, to the Pennsylvania – New York border. The plans called for construction of an east–west crosscut canal linking the Chenango Canal Extension to the North Branch Canal, which followed the Chemung River rather than the North Branch Susquehanna River north of Athens. Cost overruns, waning enthusiasm for canals, and funding delays led to abandonment of the project in 1872, after most of the work on the northern {{convert|30|mi|km}} of the line had been completed. Beyond planning, no work had been done on the southernmost {{convert|10|mi|km}} when the project ended.Whitford and Beal, Chapter 18

Susquehanna Riverlands in Salem Township, {{convert|8|mi|km|0}} south of Wilkes-Barre, has {{convert|0.5|mi|km|1}} of river walking path and filled canal owned and managed by Pennsylvania Power and Light Company.{{cite web | title = Introduction to Pennsylvania's Historic Canals | publisher = Pennsylvania Canal Society | url = http://pacanalsociety.org/sites.htm | accessdate = November 26, 2007}}

Lock No. 1 and a section of the original North Branch Canal in Northumberland were intact in 1986 as was Lock No. 2 below Bloomsburg. Occasional sections of canal bed remained between Shickshinny and West Nanticoke, and the West Nanticoke guard lock was intact. Canal bed was visible from the Lackawanna River toward Ransom and largely intact above Vosburg between Lackawanna Campground and Horse Race Falls. At Laceyville a museum known as the Oldest House was once a lockkeeper's house. Other remnants such as crib work, canal embankments, iron spikes, and timbers could be found here and there along the full length of the canal.Petrillo (1986), pp. 237–242

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• List of canals in the United States

;Notes

{{Reflist|group= n}}

;References

{{reflist|2}}

• Petrillo, F. Charles (1986). Anthracite and Slackwater: The North Branch Canal 1828–1901. Easton, Pennsylvania: Center for Canal History and Technology. {{ISBN|0-930973-04-6}}.
• Shank, William H. (1986). The Amazing Pennsylvania Canals, 150th Anniversary Edition. York, Pennsylvania: American Canal and Transportation Center. {{ISBN|0-933788-37-1}}.
• Whitford, Nobel E., and Beal, Minnie M. (1906). History of the Canal System of the State of New York Together with Brief Histories of the Canals of the United States and Canada, [https://web.archive.org/web/20100704032426/http://www.history.rochester.edu/canal/bib/whitford/old1906/chapter18.htm "Chapter 18: The Chenango Canal Extension"]. Albany, New York: Brandow Printing Company. {{OCLC|2059401}}. Retrieved March 21, 2010.

• [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:Canals in Pennsylvania

Category:Canals opened in 1856

Category:Transportation buildings and structures in Bradford County, Pennsylvania

Category:Transportation buildings and structures in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania

Category:Transportation buildings and structures in Luzerne County, Pennsylvania

Category:Transportation buildings and structures in Columbia County, Pennsylvania

Category:Transportation buildings and structures in Montour County, Pennsylvania