the great state of new jersey has served america as a gateway of both people and
commerce for practically its entire existence and to a degree part of new jersey's charm lays
in the fact that many of its places feel as if they have been stopped within their prime
sometimes decaying and other times maintained like a museum exhibition
and when traveling this great state you may come across still bodies of water
that appear to be both man-made and useless these are the canal systems of new jersey
unknown to most at their peak the new jersey canal systems were marvels in engineering and efficiency
costing a fortune to construct but enabling the transport of pennsylvania coal beyond
and off to the new york markets feeding the fire of the american industrial revolution this is the
story of new jersey's lost canal system i'm your host ryan socash and you're watching it's history
by the 19th century the united states coal industry had started to experience a major
boom as coal became a standard cheap way to power most facets of life its many uses included the
transport of goods mining efforts and even common appliances such as stoves for cooking
it was an incredibly important part of the industrial revolution without it our world would
simply be a different place with coal america grew to its greatest heights on the other hand this
newfound reliance also meant that mass amounts of coal needed to flow continuously through domestic
trade routes getting the fuel from the mines to the market quickly and efficiently was crucial
to keep up with demand during such a formative time and this was certainly no easy feat you see
freight railroads were not always accessible and highways were inefficient and at times difficult
or expensive to traverse so the construction of the morris canal and the delaware and
raritan canal were integral to the waiting markets across new jersey and new york following the 1825
success of the erie canal these two neighboring canals were constructed for similar purposes
and with similar inspirations although it's important to note their stories are incredibly
different the morris canal wasn't built by the state in fact it began as an idea of a morristown
businessman george p makdalock while on a fishing trip at lake hopticon recognizing the magnitude of
the opportunity mcdelock and a group of invested citizens came together to discuss the proposal
and make a pitch in 1822 his ideas were received favorably by the state and on november the
25th 1822 new jersey appointed a group of canal commissioners to estimate the cost and determine
whether or not the project would be feasible at this phase pledging roughly two thousand dollars
by the time of the final survey the summit level was estimated as 914 feet above tide at newark
and 760 feet in phillipsburg which was a daunting contrast with this in mind it is no overestimation
to call the morris canal the climber of mountains the morris canal and banking company was chartered
in 1824 to carry out the actual construction but while the job of getting it approved and map was
completed there still remained the seemingly insurmountable task of building it over such
difficult terrain the construction itself was such a massive undertaking that it had to be split up
into several different sections of work which were all contracted separately by 1826 over a thousand
men had set to work on the canal's construction the terrain from the summit at lake hapticon was
both rocky and uneven but the engineers behind this marvel made the impossible possible with
a system of 23 locks and 23 planes that were able to rise and lower boats up to 100 feet these locks
and planes were powered by the water that entered them making apt use of the surroundings by the
time it was fully completed the morris canal had reached a staggering 102 miles in length later
reaching 107 miles with the addition of a 5 mile long feeder in 1837 with the eastern end of the
canal connecting the hackensack and hudson rivers the canal opened to the public in 1831 as new
jersey's first industrial transportation system and originally reached from phillipsburg to newark
but just five years later in 1836 it was extended to reach as far as jersey city shortly after its
opening the new canal was being traversed by hundreds of boats these boats according
to the canal society of new jersey included many mule-drawn canal boats these flat canal boats were
designed in the same spirit of innovation as the canal itself and were able to carry up to 70 tons
of cargo at a time as they were pulled by mules through the water powered locks and planes it took
roughly five days to cross the route and cargo varied from ore to agricultural goods the canal
itself quickly became critical to the state of new jersey's commerce and economic development as well
as other states such as new york effectively this canal was an artery of the american industrial
revolution it also played an important part in helping the smaller settlements along the route
form into commercial and industrial towns offering some much needed rejuvenation to the stagnation
of the iron industry across the states the morris canal peaked shortly after the civil war carrying
a grand total of 900 000 tons of coal while much shorter in length the neighboring canal the
delaware and raritan canal was also incredible in fact the first suggestion of its construction went
back to pennsylvania's founder william penn around 1690. surprisingly the opposition to
the movement was so strong that it wasn't until the fourth attempt to charter the canal in 1830
that the official charter was actually passed roughly one year before the morris canal opened
to public navigation but it's funny to consider the possibility that the delaware and raritan
canal could have been much much older than the morris canal in fact we might even speculate
that the delaware and raritan canal could have ended up the much more prominent and established
between the two if it had been constructed earlier in any case the approval and later passing of the
charter was in great thanks to the extensive efforts of james nielsen the first treasurer
it is also in large part thanks to his belief in the financial benefit the canal would bring that
such monumental progress was made and construction finally began canvas white who previously worked
on the erie canal project was hired to oversee the delaware and raritan's construction
as the project's chief engineer he also carried out the majority of the necessary surveying work
for the route of the canal and was in charge of contracting the men to carry out the actual
physical construction even before it opened for navigation in 1834 the immense amount of work
opened many jobs in the area shockingly much of the canal itself was dug out by hand the majority
of these new jobs were filled by irish immigrants who had worked alongside white on the erie canal
and a number of those had been specifically scouted to cross over to the delaware and
raritan project once construction was complete the route was chartered from borden town to the
delaware river to new brunswick on the raritan river providing a total length of 44 miles
placing it just under half the length of its cousin canal despite its shorter length the
delaware and raritan was otherwise a fairly large canal boasting 14 locks that were 24 by 220 feet
in diameter and when the river flooded the excess water would be drained by smaller place spillways
the canal was eight feet deep and the banks were lined with stone this was to allow the traveling
boats to move at a decent speed and to prevent the canal banks from washing into the water
the canal also employed multiple bridges that were able to pivot horizontally to ensure that
vessels of every mass height could traverse the canals with ease and as a result of these extra
accommodations the canal saw a high volume of boat traffic throughout its lifespan although the canal
remains mostly level throughout it was truly a picture of 19th century efficiency with a 22
mile long feeder canal supplying the main source of water this feeder canal was also fully passable
by mule drawn canal boat and saw a fair amount of traffic throughout the delaware and raritan
canal's lifespan the canal society reports a total tonnage of the canal in 1866 as a staggering 2 857
233 tons around 83 percent of that tonnage being coal curiously the canal was also used
to move troops and war supplies and saw a far greater variety of boats than its neighbor a vast
number of boats passed here from mule-toed canal boats to freight boats to steamboats and even
personal pleasure boats from across the east coast traversed these waters of the delaware and raritan
goods could be transported between philadelphia and new york in just two days its efficiency set a
precedent as work continued in further improving trade and transport all across the country it
rapidly became one of america's hot spot canals at times even overtaking the erie canal in terms
of total tonnage and profits new york was also a massive part of the market that the canal's
coal was being supplied to as it underwent its own industrial boom but just as industrialism
contributed to the construction of these beautiful canals it also contributed to their downfall
while nielsen was kept busy lobbying for the delaware and raritan's charter and construction
an ever-increasing party of interested individuals were also seeking the same types of permission
for legislation to start constructing the first rail lines across the center of the state this
type of conflict was far from new ever since the john stevens railroad charter was passed in 1815
the canal and railroad system had been locked in a fierce tug of war that only worsened as time went
on despite the fact that it was largely untested the railroad gained a large amount of traction
and attracted all sorts of support as the two rivals fought over the same transportation routes
connecting new york and philadelphia eventually both sides were forced to compromise and in 1831
they pooled together their stocks to create a joint railroad canal company the partnership was
expected to last 30 years and was introduced to create a measure of protection against the other
potential competitors from both sides as the dnr canal writes both parties understood their role
well with the railroad focusing more heavily on passenger service and the canal placing the
bulk of their focus on the movements of goods and freight despite this union however it was perhaps
an inevitability that by the end of the 19th century the use of canals would fall into rapid
decline the canals were much slower by comparison and not long after became completely overshadowed
by their railroad competitors even within the compounds of a partnership hence the morris
canal was leased out by the railroad company to eliminate competition and it was repossessed by
the state of new jersey in 1922. although it remained as it was for two more years it was
eventually drained of water in 1924. the delaware and raritan canal's last year of profit was in
1892 and was closed 10 years after the morrison canal with state repossession occurring in 1936
so what remains of these two canals today well the delaware and raritan was saved rather than
leaving it to sit in despair it was rehabilitated and designated as a water source for the state
and to this day the canal still serves many people of the state of new jersey in 1974 over 60 miles
of the canal were designated as an official state park and it is beloved by millions of people from
across the east coast locals and tourists alike the morris canal was initially far less fortunate
with much of its route being tragically lost and destroyed as the state developed with new
housing and highways even so there are plenty of parts still intact in 1981 the morris canal was
designated as a part of the warren county's open space plan and was appointed a committee tasked
both with protecting the remains of the canal and spreading the story of its incredible history
starting in 2012 an ongoing project called the morris canal greenway has begun with an
envisioned 111 mile pedestrian and bicycle path along the original historic route of the canal and
it is through these efforts that the incredibly important stories of the canals will live on
to present day their heydays have indeed passed but these canals offer us a chance to appreciate
the great contribution of america's industrial revolution i love the state of new jersey and
i have many more topics to cover there so if you're from new jersey subscribe to its history
and give me your episode ideas in the comments section below this is ryan socash signing off