In 1824 two Philadelphia merchants, Maurice and Wilbur Wurts formed the D&H Coal Company to build a waterway to haul hard coal from Carbondale, PA to Kingston, NY where it could be shipped down the Hudson River to the City. The canal opened in 1828 and was 108 miles long with 108 locks. It was 4 feet deep and 28 feet wide at the water line and could carry boats of 20 ton capacity.
The Delaware and Hudson Canal is one of the greatest tributes to American innovation and enterprise and served as a prelude to several of the nation’s engineering feats. (Yes, I copied that but I still have pictures.)
This is lock 16:
Andy at lock 19:
The DePuy Canal House:
This was a tavern built in 1797 by Simeon DePuy and enlarged in 1820 to serve workers and travelers on the D&H Canal. It is currently a restaurant.From there we took a short ride to the falls.
The upper:
The lower:
More history:
Water power was not harnessed until after the American Revolution. These two falls have powered cotton and woolen factories; flour, corn, and plaster mills; a saw mill; cement factories; electrical generators; dyeing works; a leather tannery; and a cooperage – how about that! Currently there is a station right by the falls that still produces electricity for about 1600 homes.
And from there, we stopped in Hurley to have lunch and see the stone houses (could find a place to park so no pictures – maybe we will go back later).
Back at home, NO RAIN and a great campfire night!!
A side note:
If you would like update to the blog emailed to you instead of checking the web, see the side panel. You can enter your email address and then follow the steps. Let me know if you have any problems.
No comments:
Post a Comment