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110-569: In a few decades, the eastern seaboard was crisscrossed by private turnpikes and canals were being built from Massachusetts to Illinois ushering in the brief seven decades of the American Canal Age . The Potomac Company's achievement was not just to be an early example, but of being significant also in size and scope of the project, which involved taming a mountain stream fed river with icing conditions and unpredictable freshets (floods). The Potomac Company built five skirting canals around

220-450: A "slip scraper" (similar to a bulldozer). The sides of the canal were lined with stone set in clay, and the bottom was also lined with clay. The stonework required hundreds of German masons , who later built many of New York's buildings. All labor on the canal depended upon human (and animal) power or the force of water. Engineering techniques developed during its construction included the building of aqueducts to redirect water; one aqueduct

330-533: A canal on the opposite, Maryland side of the Potomac River. As early as 1749 many leaders in Maryland and Virginia had been interested in making the Potomac River into a major transportation route to the trans-Appalachian West. Advocates included Philadelphia resident Ben Franklin , who advocated many other waterway improvements as well as being vital to develop American industries and enhance trade with

440-607: A canal would add value to the land he was selling in the western part of the state. He later became the first canal commissioner. The first legislation supporting canals in North America was passed in 1762 in the colonial-era Province of Pennsylvania to improve navigation on the Schuylkill River through Philadelphia , the largest city in North America. It provided for the surveying of a lock canal along

550-674: A clear if not a complete view of the first era of inland water commerce in America. Next up there were numerous schemes and bills placed before the Pennsylvania assembly in the 1790-1816 time frame to improve navigation on the Susquehanna, Schuylkill and Lehigh Rivers, the first being the Schuylkill and Susquehanna Navigation Company in 1791. They consumed private capital and public monies, but were little successful. Concurrently,

660-501: A great challenge. Passengers and freight had to travel overland, a journey made more difficult by the rough condition of the roads. In 1800, it typically took 2.5 weeks to travel overland from New York to Cleveland , Ohio [460 miles (740 km)]; 4 weeks to Detroit [612 miles (985 km)]. The principal exportable product of the Ohio Valley was grain, which was a high-volume, low-priced commodity, bolstered by supplies from

770-496: A lack of sufficient investors, a lack of government aid from a poor and young federal government , and conflicts between states. Although the company charter was surrendered to the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company in 1828, its curtailment has overall minor significance only as in that it serves as an example of how a deficient amount of support from the responsible leadership balancing the federal government can seem to undermine

880-558: A large country cannot be understated, and the failure of such a large project made clear that expensive (but in the long term, profitable) infrastructure projects would not be achieved without support from the federal government. Further, the Potomac Company's plan made it possible for the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company to take over and complete the project. These two regions were linked, and goods and services moved through

990-412: A large, desirable infrastructure project that is a conceptual overreach, or could attract sufficient private funding. Its apparent failure, on the other hand, can be understood as a project which gave way to a superior technology, as railways came along and grew up before the slow subscription system of stocks common to the day attracted sufficient funding. In the day, men of means and many such officials of

1100-571: A passing reference (in a report on fur trading) to improving the natural waterways of western New York. Gouverneur Morris and Elkanah Watson were early proponents of a canal along the Mohawk River . Their efforts led to the creation of the Western and Northern Inland Lock Navigation Companies in 1792 (which took the first steps to improve navigation on the Mohawk and construct a canal between

1210-536: A region. An equally ancient solution was implemented in many cultures — things in the water weighed far less and took less effort to move since friction became negligible. Close to the seacoast, rivers often provided adequate waterways, but the Appalachian Mountains , 400 miles (640 km) inland, running over 1,500 miles (2,400 km) long as a barrier range with just five places where mule trains or wagon roads could be routed, presented

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1320-519: A severe shortage of labor, conflicts with foreign and colonial powers, and internal rivalries would prevent the project from being started until the 1780s, thirty years later. In 1784, a year after the Treaty of Paris was signed, George Washington and Horatio Gates traveled to Annapolis to seek the state's assent to the project. Washington urged Virginia Governor Benjamin Harrison to bring the matter to

1430-595: A steam tug and a coastal cargo ship all 45.6 miles (73.4 km) from the Delaware to the slack water pool at Mauch Chunk in present-day Jim Thorpe . Cumberland Turnpike The National Road (also known as the Cumberland Road ) was the first major improved highway in the United States built by the federal government . Built between 1811 and 1837, the 620-mile (1,000 km) road connected

1540-576: A tributary of the Hudson River , rises near Lake Ontario and runs in a glacial meltwater channel just north of the Catskill range of the Appalachian Mountains , separating them from the geologically distinct Adirondacks to the north. The Mohawk and Hudson valleys form the only cut across the Appalachians north of Alabama , allowing an almost complete water route from New York City in

1650-624: A true canal, the Lehigh navigation was the type of canal built along the line of a river valley within its drainage basin and parallel to the fall of the watercourse. The Lehigh Canal for a time was two separate civil engineering projects constructed 20 years apart that stretched over two parts of the Lehigh River and totaling 72-mile (116 km) along the Lehigh River in eastern Pennsylvania . The lower canal (46.5 miles (74.8 km))

1760-475: A walkway known as a towpath . Its construction, through limestone and mountains, proved a daunting task. The canal was built using some of the most advanced engineering technology from Holland. In 1823 construction reached the Niagara Escarpment , necessitating the building of five locks along a 3-mile (4.8 km) corridor to carry the canal over the escarpment. To move earth, animals pulled

1870-497: A warehouse for goods being transported down the Potomac (predicting the route would quickly become profitable after the project's completion). The legal troubles of the Potomac Company kept its lawyers in and out of court constantly. The decline in public confidence in the project led to a more difficult economic position because the Potomac Company relied on individually buying shares for funds. Maryland and Virginia continued funding

1980-687: Is a term of art used by science, technology, and industry historians. Various parts of the world have had various canal ages; the main ones belong to Egypt, Ancient Babylon, and the historical empires of India, China, Southeast Asia, and mercantile Europe. The successes of the Canal du Midi in France (1681), Bridgewater Canal in Britain (fully completed 1769), and Eiderkanal (superseded by today's Kiel Canal) in Denmark (later Germany) (1784) spurred on what

2090-700: Is designated as the National Freeway. Many of the National Road's original stone arch bridges also remain on former alignments, including: Another remaining National Road bridge is the Wheeling Suspension Bridge at Wheeling, West Virginia . Opened in 1849 to carry the road over the Ohio River , it was the largest suspension bridge in the world until 1851, and until 2019 was the oldest vehicular suspension bridge in

2200-694: Is sometimes referred to as the Washington National Pike; it is now paralleled by I-270 between the Capital Beltway (I-495) and Frederick. Nicknamed the "Main Street of America", the road's presence in towns on its route and effective access to surrounding towns attracted wealthy residents to build their houses along the road in towns such as in Richmond, Indiana , and Springfield, Ohio , creating Millionaires' Rows . In 1976,

2310-837: The Alton Road), already existed. In 1912, the National Road was chosen to become part of the National Old Trails Road , which would extend further east to New York City and west to Los Angeles, California . Five Madonna of the Trail monuments, donated by the Daughters of the American Revolution , were erected along the Old Trails Road. In 1927, the National Road was designated as the eastern part of US 40, which still generally follows

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2420-537: The American Society of Civil Engineers designated the National Road as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark . There are several structures associated with the National Road that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places . Some are listed below. The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission has installed five historical markers noting the historic importance of

2530-537: The American Society of Civil Engineers designated the National Road as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark . In 2002, the entire road, including extensions east to Baltimore and west to St. Louis, was designated the Historic National Road , an All-American Road . The Braddock Road had been opened by the Ohio Company in 1751 between Fort Cumberland , the limit of navigation on

2640-762: The Monongahela River , at Brownsville, Pennsylvania , which was by then a major outfitting center and riverboat -building emporium. Many settlers boarded boats there to travel down the Ohio and up the Missouri, or elsewhere on the Mississippi watershed . By 1818, travelers could press on, still following Chief Nemacolin's trail across the ford, or taking a ferry to West Brownsville, moving through Washington County, Pennsylvania , and passing into Wheeling, Virginia (now West Virginia), 45 miles (72 km) away on

2750-613: The Pennsylvania Turnpike (also designated as I-76 ) across the mountains between Breezewood and New Stanton , where I-70 turns west to rejoin the National Road's route (and US 40) near Washington, Pennsylvania . The more recently constructed I-68 parallels the old road from Hancock through Cumberland west to Keyser's Ridge, Maryland , where the National Road and US 40 turn northwest into Pennsylvania, but I-68 continues directly west to meet I-79 near Morgantown, West Virginia . The portion of I-68 in Maryland

2860-624: The Potomac and Ohio Rivers and was a main transport path to the West for thousands of settlers. When improved in the 1830s, it became the second U.S. road surfaced with the macadam process pioneered by Scotsman John Loudon McAdam . Construction began heading west in 1811 at Cumberland, Maryland , on the Potomac River. After the Financial Panic of 1837 and the resulting economic depression, congressional funding ran dry and construction

2970-580: The Schuylkill Canal which was chartered in 1812 but like the earlier Lehigh River projects, languished lazily, only raising a small amount of new funds annually, and getting only a little amount of work done accordingly. Josiah White and partner Erskine Hazard needing fuel for their wire mill and nail factory at the falls of the Schuylkill fought this plodding method of incremental improvement for years. Like many North American canals of

3080-520: The 1820s-1840s, the canal operating companies partnered with or founded short feeder railroads to connect to their sources or markets. Two good examples of this were funded by private enterprise: Together, they and the Schuylkill Canal - Reading Railroad would supply and transport the majority of Anthracite needed by northern industries in the early North American Industrial Revolution . Unlike Europe, America did not have canals for several hundred years before industrialization. In North America, everything

3190-655: The 1931 closure of commercial operations. The lower canal connected the Southern Coal Region to the Delaware River basin, connecting present-day Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania to Easton in the Lehigh Valley , using a specially designed canal boat capable of making the one-way trip on the River as well. It was used to carry anthracite gathered to the central Lehigh Valley to the urban markets of

3300-526: The LCMC made little profits, and only sporadic efforts over two decades. Inspired by the energy shortfall during the blockade of the War of 1812 , the LCMC sent a large expedition out in 1813, which started down the river in spring of 1814 with five arks laden with coal. Only two of them made it to Philadelphia, and both were purchased by Josiah White and partner Erskine Hazard . The LCMC board in its disgust confirmed

3410-577: The Mohawk and Lake Ontario), but the company proved that private financing was insufficient. George Washington led a partly enduring effort to turn the Potomac River into a navigable link to the west, sinking substantial energy and capital into the Patowmack Canal from 1785 until his death fourteen years later. By 1788 Washington's Potomac Company was successful in constructing five locks which took boats 4,500 feet (1,400 m) past

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3520-497: The National Road stopped in 1839. Much of the road through Indiana and Illinois remained unfinished and was transferred to the states. Federal construction of the road stopped at Vandalia, Illinois , which at that time was the state's capital. Illinois officials decided not to continue construction without the federal funds because two state roads from Vandalia to the St. Louis area, today's US 40 and Illinois Route 140 (known then as

3630-467: The National Road was connected with other historic routes to California under the title, National Old Trails Road . Today, much of the alignment is followed by U.S. Route 40 (US 40), with various portions bearing the Alternate U.S. Route 40 (Alt. US 40) designation, or various state-road numbers (such as Maryland Route 144 for several sections between Baltimore and Cumberland). In 1976,

3740-406: The National Road's alignment with occasional bypasses, realignments, and newer bridges. The mostly parallel Interstate 70 (I-70) now provides a faster route for through travel without the many sharp curves, steep grades, and narrow bridges of US 40 and other segments of the National Road. Heading west from Hancock in western Maryland, I-70 takes a more northerly path to connect with and follow

3850-539: The National Road's eastern terminus at Cumberland and toward the Atlantic coast, a series of private toll roads and turnpikes were constructed, connecting the National Road (also known as the Old National Pike ) with Baltimore, then the third-largest city in the country, and a major maritime port on Chesapeake Bay . Completed in 1824, these feeder routes formed what is referred to as an eastern extension of

3960-740: The Ohio River. Subsequent efforts pushed the road across the states of Ohio and Indiana and into the Illinois Territory . The western terminus of the National Road at its greatest extent was at the Kaskaskia River in Vandalia, Illinois , near the intersection of modern US 51 and US 40. Today, travelers driving east from Vandalia travel along modern US 40 through south-central Illinois. The National Road continued into Indiana along modern US 40, passing through

4070-514: The Potomac Company announced it could not fulfill its charter. Virginia created the Potomac Canal Company. Maryland incorporated the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company in 1825, and Congress quickly approved its charter. In 1817, fellow directors elected John Mason of Analostan Island , and son of President Washington's mentor and fellow Founding Father George Mason IV as director. This last president served for eleven years before

4180-700: The Potomac Company in 1785, the Society for Promoting the Improvement of Inland Navigation in 1791, the Western and Northern Inland Lock Navigation Companies in 1792, and the Lehigh Coal Mine Company, owned by Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company , in 1793. A review of these various enterprises will give a clear if not a complete view of the first era of inland water commerce in America. The larger endeavor, connecting coastal communities with

4290-416: The Potomac Company's project beyond the original contract. However even continued investment by Maryland, Virginia, and some individuals could not offset growing expenses due to poor technical advice, labor problems, poor planning, and incessant repair work. The work was stop and go because of the continuous need to raise more money. At many points in the project's history (for example in) all work would stop as

4400-764: The Potomac Great Falls. The Chesapeake and Ohio Canal superseded the Potomac Canal in 1823. Christopher Colles (who was familiar with the Bridgewater Canal) surveyed the Mohawk Valley, and made a presentation to the New York state legislature in 1784 proposing a canal from Lake Ontario . The proposal drew attention and some action but was never implemented. Jesse Hawley finally got the canal built. He had envisioned encouraging

4510-579: The Potomac for nearly a century. In his will, Washington left fifty shares toward the endowment of a university in the District of Columbia . The shares were lost, however. The Potomac Company, an investment bank based in Philadelphia, is not related in any way to the original Potomac Company referenced above. Notes Further reading Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) documentation: American Canal Age The Canal Age

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4620-586: The Schuylkill tributary Tulpehocken Creek ; this would be built between 1782 and 1828 as the Union Canal , part of the omnibus Pennsylvania legislative package, the Main Line of Public Works , and was the only water route connecting the Susquehanna and Delaware Rivers above the Chesapeake Bay . Pennsylvania had been foremost among the colonies in canal building, for it had surveyed as early as 1762

4730-597: The Susquehanna River valley passed by Beaver Meadows and the eventual Beaver Meadows mines, and then attempted to transport the coal down the Lehigh River to the Delaware River and on to the docks in Philadelphia . The lack of steady effort and an intimately involved company officer in the operations returned sketchy results, most often the expeditions would loose arks on the rapids of the Lehigh and so

4840-552: The United States still in use, although it has since been closed to vehicular traffic due to repeated overweight vehicles ignoring the weight limits and damaging the bridge. A newer bridge now carries the realigned US 40 and I-70 across the river nearby. Three of the road's original toll houses are preserved: Additionally, several Old National Pike Milestones —some well-maintained, others deteriorating, and yet others represented by modern replacements—remain intact along

4950-564: The Virginia Assembly, citing the "commercial and political importance" of the project. Washington's formidable reputation in the U.S. during the time after the Revolution persuaded the governor to present a letter to the Virginia Assembly asking for support for the project. The Virginia Assembly appointed Washington, Gates, and Thomas Blackburn commissioners to seek Maryland's agreement. Washington's subsequent visit to Annapolis

5060-426: The West would enjoy economic success, and the port at the seaward end of such a route would see business increase greatly. In time, projects were devised in Virginia , Maryland , Pennsylvania , and relatively deep into the coastal states. The idea of a canal to tie the East Coast of the United States to the new western settlements was already in the air by 1724: New York provincial official Cadwallader Colden made

5170-435: The barges moving behind mule teams 24 hours a day. Technology Archaeologists and Industrial Historians date the American Canal Age from 1790 to 1855 based on momentum and new construction activity, since many of the older canals, however limited later by locks that restricted boat sizes below the most economic capacities and well-behind later-developing technological capabilities, nonetheless continued on in service well into

5280-415: The blossoming trans-Allegheny settlements, was championed by Benjamin Franklin and other Founding Fathers , and became a pet project for the nation's first president, George Washington , who had experience on West Virginia and Western Pennsylvania from his days as frontier surveyor and militia officer and saw these regions ultimately fail due to insufficient capitalization, an unstable American economy,

5390-418: The charter, the Potomac Company had three years to clear the upper Potomac, and ten years to build bypass canals and locks around the Little and Great Falls (a distance of 175 miles). Both states passed additional laws to go further—building roads and connecting headwaters to link the Potomac River to the Ohio River. The Potomac Company originally wanted to hire only free labor, but due to the shortage of labor,

5500-503: The cities of Terre Haute and Indianapolis. Within Indianapolis, the National Road used the original alignment of US 40 along West and East Washington Street (modern US 40 is now routed along I-465 ). East of Indianapolis, the road went through the city of Richmond before entering Ohio, where the road continued along modern US 40 and passed through the northern suburbs of Dayton, Springfield, and Columbus. West of Zanesville, Ohio , despite US 40's predominantly following

5610-411: The coast. Frequently it was not worth the cost of transporting it to far-away population centers. This was a factor leading to farmers in the west turning their grains into whiskey for easier transport and higher sales, and later the Whiskey Rebellion . In the 18th and early 19th centuries, it became clear to coastal residents that the city or state that succeeded in developing a cheap, reliable route to

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5720-453: The college town of Springfield, Ohio . In 1849, a bridge was completed to carry the National Road across the Ohio River at Wheeling. The Wheeling Suspension Bridge , designed by Charles Ellet Jr. , was at the time the world's longest bridge span at 1,010 feet (310 m) from tower to tower. Maintenance costs on the Cumberland Road were becoming more than Congress was willing to bear. In agreements with Maryland, Virginia, and Pennsylvania,

5830-413: The company begged for economic assistance, settled lawsuits, and revised its plan. Three of the canals, at Seneca Falls, House Falls (near Harpers Ferry ), and Payne's Falls (Shenandoah) did not need locks, and were completed. The Little Falls canal was more difficult, and as a money-saving measure, wooden locks were used. In February 1802, the locks at Great Falls were completed, and the Potomac Company

5940-414: The company. Tobias Lear , Washington's personal secretary, was its chairman for a period. Other principals of the company included Thomas Johnson of Maryland. The Potomac Company's charter stated that its goal was linking the East Coast with the Old Northwest , including the Ohio Country , by building a canal up through a water gap through the Allegheny Front into the nearer frontiers connecting to

6050-487: The corporation's assets were merged into the more successful Chesapeake and Ohio Canal . The failure of the Potomac Company to make the Potomac River navigable does not mean that that project was without serious economic implications. The failure of the Potomac Company was largely attributed to a lack of federal support and oversight, and the U.S. government was much more careful to support interstate infrastructure projects after that. The significance of transportation in such

6160-410: The daytime. The best examples furnished with carpeted floors, stuffed chairs, and mahogany tables stocked with current newspapers and books served as sitting rooms during the days. At mealtimes crews transformed the cabin into dining rooms. Drawing a curtain across the width of the room divided the cabin into ladies' and gentlemen's sleeping quarters in the evening hours. Pull down tiered beds folded from

6270-437: The decisions and strategies of the Schuykill Canal's board of directors, so by the winter of 1814 were very interested in exploring the option of getting coal from Lehigh valley down to Philadelphia the more than 100 miles (160 km), one way or another., but by late 1822 just as anthracite was achieving early acceptance and the skepticism was waning the drain of building sacrificial 'Coal Arks' for every load delivered to

6380-436: The directors hired free, indentured, and slave labor to build the locks and canals and deepen the river. James Rumsey , well known for his work with steam-propelled riverboats, was hired as the project's chief engineer. There was a large conflict with Virginia Governor Henry Lee III (father of Robert E. Lee ), who purchased 500 acres (200 ha) of land around Great Falls (he named it "Matildaville" after his wife) to build

6490-476: The docks of Philadelphia in 1822 as the LC&N operations were just hitting stride was already a worry to the managing board of directors. By mid-1822, managing director Josiah White was consulting with Canvass White , a veteran designing engineer of New York 's Erie Canal locks, and by late 1822 had shifted construction efforts from bolstering and improving the one-way system begun in 1818 with ambitious two-way dams and lock construction capable of taking both

6600-412: The early Federalist U.S. government were very conscious of the desirable effects of building transportation infrastructure to link the near west and tie it to the eastern seaboard. As settlers poured west over the mountains after the Revolutionary War, serious concerns arose that newly settled lands would become financially tied better to and so make arrangements with Spanish, French, or British colonies to

6710-419: The federal National Road. On May 15, 1820, Congress authorized an extension of the road to St. Louis, on the Mississippi River, and on March 3, 1825, across the Mississippi and to Jefferson City, Missouri . Work on the extension between Wheeling and Zanesville, Ohio , used the pre-existing Zane's Trace of Ebenezer Zane , and was completed in 1833 to the new state capital of Columbus, Ohio , and in 1838 to

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6820-440: The first lock canal in America, from near Reading on the Schuylkill to Middletown on the Susquehanna. As energetic men all along the Atlantic Plain now took up the problem of improving the inland rivers, they faced a storm of criticism and ridicule that would have daunted any but such as Washington and Johnson of Virginia or White and Hazard of Pennsylvania or Morris and Watson of New York. Every imaginable objection to such projects

6930-404: The first section was awarded to Henry McKinley on May 8, 1811, and construction began later that year, with the road reaching Wheeling on August 1, 1818. For more than 100 years, a simple granite stone was the only marker of the road's beginning in Cumberland, Maryland. In June 2012, a monument and plaza were built in that town's Riverside Park, next to the historic original starting point. Beyond

7040-462: The growing of large quantities of grain on the Western New York plains (then largely unsettled) for sale on the Eastern seaboard . However, he went bankrupt trying to ship grain to the coast. While in Canandaigua debtors' prison , Hawley began pressing for the construction of a canal along the 90-mile (140 km)-long Mohawk River valley with support from Joseph Ellicott (agent for the Holland Land Company in Batavia ). Ellicott realized that

7150-402: The headwaters of either the Ohio River tributaries, the Cheat , or Monongahela Rivers . It had an early and more immediate goal of improving the navigability of the Potomac River, by building canals and navigations around a succession of blocking rapids or falls of the lower and middle Potomac River. In this latter goal, it succeeded. As energetic men all along the Atlantic Plain now took up

7260-416: The heftiest cuttings and viaducts , fifty locks would be required along the 360-mile (580 km) canal. Such a canal would be expensive to build even with modern technology; in 1800, the expense was barely imaginable. President Thomas Jefferson called it "a little short of madness" and rejected it; however, Hawley interested New York Governor DeWitt Clinton in the project. There was much opposition, and

7370-417: The history of the 1820-1880s Industrial Revolution , and with much the same clout as a modern conglomerate such as General Motors, or General Electric or with the same sorts of innovations as are ascribed to IBM, Microsoft or the like. Leveraging of innovation and immense self-confidence, the Company founders With the discovery of large surface deposits of anthracite coal, the Lehigh Coal Mine Company (LCMC)

7480-408: The inland waterways of the country began when, under the influence of George Washington, Virginia and Maryland appointed commissioners primarily to consider the navigation and improvement of the Potomac; they met in 1785 in Alexandria and adjourned to Mount Vernon, where they planned for extension, pursuant to which they reassembled with representatives of other States in Annapolis in 1786; again finding

7590-428: The interior frontiers of the days before the French and Indian War to combat the influence of New France (in Pennsylvania and) across the Appalachians . The project to improve the Potomac was seen as a major opportunity strategically (it would transport troops to the frontier with the French or the Indians more rapidly) and economically (it would increase fur trade and improve real estate values). A lack of technology,

7700-442: The lack of water- and roadways made English coal shipped across the Atlantic cheaper in Philadelphia than Pennsylvania anthracite mined 100 miles away. Canals would benefit both the East and the Midwest. For more than a century, they had provided Europe with inexpensive, reliable transportation, and George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and other founding fathers believed they were the key to the New World's future. The Mohawk River ,

7810-427: The major constructions of the Potomac Company was the Patowmack Canal . A major engineering feat of the time, the Potomack Canal permitted boats to navigate around Great Falls , where the Potomac River drops a treacherous 75 feet through the unnavigable Mather Gorge . After 21 years, the Potomack Canal was sold, along with the other assets of the Potomac Company to the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Company, which built

7920-592: The major falls of the Potomac opening the river to commercial bulk goods traffic from the Chesapeake Bay mouth to Cumberland, Maryland in the Cumberland Narrows notch leading west across the Alleghenies, where it intersected Nemacolin's Trail near Braddock's Road , later made the first National Road , today's U.S. Route 40. When completed, bulk goods could ship by wagon out of the Pennsylvania and Virginia Alleghenies plateau country downhill to

8030-722: The new goal was to improve other rivers in the watershed such as the Shenandoah , the Monocacy , and Antietam Creek . At Harpers Ferry, Virginia (since 1863, West Virginia) the Company built the Shenandoah Canal in the Shenandoah River, creating Virginius Island , an industrial center. A commission in 1821 agreed that water transport in the Potomac valley would only be possible with a still-water canal, and

8140-715: The nonstop smooth method of transportation cut nearly in half the travel time between Albany and Buffalo moving day and night. Venturing West men and women boarded packets to visit relatives or solely for a relaxing excursion. Emigrants took passage on freight boats camping on deck or on top of crates. Packet boats serving passengers exclusively reached speeds of up to five miles per hour (8.0 km/h) an hour and ran at much more frequent intervals than cramped, bumpy stages. Packet boats measuring up to 78 feet (24 m) in length and 14 + 1 ⁄ 2 feet (4.4 m) across made ingenious use of space in order to accommodate up to forty passengers at night and up to three times as many in

8250-574: The northeast, especially Philadelphia , Trenton, New Jersey , and Wilmington, Delaware , but supported new growth industries in Bristol, Pennsylvania , Allentown and Bethlehem . The privately funded canal was joined as part of the Pennsylvania Canal System , a complex system of canals and tow paths—and eventually railroads. The canal was sold for recreation use in the 1960s. The Lehigh Navigation & Coal Company sits astride

8360-630: The original route, many segments of the original road can still be found. Between Old Washington and Morristown, the original roadbed has been overlaid by I-70 . The road then continued east across the Ohio River into Wheeling in West Virginia, the original western end of the National Road when it was first paved. After running 15 miles (24 km) in West Virginia, the National Road then entered Pennsylvania. The road cut across southwestern Pennsylvania, heading southeast for about 90 miles (140 km) before entering Maryland. East of Keyser's Ridge,

8470-725: The politically connected Erskine Hazard and his older partner Josiah White , who together built the Lehigh Canal and the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company , founding towns, mines, and building economically productive mining and transportation infrastructure from a wilderness in Eastern Pennsylvania south and west of the Poconos in the anthracite creating folded ridges of the Ridge and Valley Appalachians . Not

8580-650: The port of New York City to the promise of the Great Lakes , just then undergoing rapid settlement as the 1779 Sullivan Expedition had brushed aside the Iroquois and opened the Northwest Territory to settlement. Inspired in part by the news of the Erie's technological achievements, the privately funded Lehigh Canal was an achievement brought about by the energy needs of two visionary industrialists,

8690-806: The predecessor of the Erie Canal was begun in New York State and in New England, Connecticut and Massachusetts were looking at a few waterways needing better navigability. The Lehigh Canal was developed when the last of these licenses, awarded in 1816, expired in early 1818 with virtually nothing to show for the funds spent. This expiration allowed the state to give rights-of-way to the Lehigh Navigation and Coal Company in March 1818, founded by two disgruntled formerly enthusiastic backers of

8800-501: The problem of improving the inland rivers, they faced a storm of criticism and ridicule that would have daunted any but such as Washington and Johnson of Virginia or White and Hazard of Pennsylvania or Morris and Watson of New York. Every imaginable objection to such projects was advanced—from the inefficiency of the science of engineering to the probable destruction of all the fish in the streams. In spite of these discouragements, however, various men set themselves to form in rapid succession

8910-463: The project was ridiculed as "Clinton's folly" and "Clinton's ditch." In 1817, though, Clinton received approval from the legislature for $ 7 million for construction. The original canal was 363 miles (584 km) long, from Albany on the Hudson to Buffalo on Lake Erie. The channel was cut 40 feet (12 m) wide and 4 feet (1.2 m) deep, with removed soil piled on the downhill side to form

9020-422: The right of way remained on the towpath side of the canal. The other boat steered toward the berm (or heelpath) side of the canal. The driver (or "hoggee", pronounced HO-gee ) of the privileged boat kept his towpath team by the canalside edge of the towpath, while the hoggee of the other boat moved to the outside of the towpath and stopped his team. His towline would be unravelled from the horses, go slack, fall into

9130-399: The river port where the canal allowed boats and rafts to float downstream towards Georgetown, a significant port of the time on the Potomac River, now an upscale bedroom community and college town within the District of Columbia . The company had been championed by prominent men of both Maryland and Virginia, including George Washington , who was its first president, as well as an investor in

9240-470: The road used modern Alt US 40 to the city of Cumberland (modern US 40 is now routed along I-68 ). Cumberland was the original eastern terminus of the road. In the mid-19th century, a turnpike extension to Baltimore was approved—along what is now Maryland Route 144 from Cumberland to Hancock, US 40 from Hancock to Hagerstown, Alternate US 40 from Hagerstown to Frederick, and Maryland Route 144 from Frederick to Baltimore. The approval process

9350-439: The road was to be reconstructed and resurfaced. The section that ran over Haystack Mountain , just west of Cumberland, was abandoned and a new road was built through the Cumberland Narrows . On April 1, 1835, the section from Wheeling to Cumberland was transferred to Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Virginia (now West Virginia). The last congressional appropriation was made May 25, 1838, and in 1840, Congress voted against completing

9460-860: The route. In general, the road climbed westwards along the Amerindian trail known as Chief Nemacolin's Path , once followed and improved by a young George Washington, then also followed by the Braddock Expedition. Using the Cumberland Narrows , its first phase of construction crossed the Allegheny Mountains entered southwestern Pennsylvania, reaching the Allegheny Plateau in Somerset County, Pennsylvania . There, travelers could turn off to Pittsburgh or continue west through Uniontown and reach navigable water,

9570-487: The south to Lake Ontario and Lake Erie in the west. Along its course and from these lakes, other Great Lakes , and to a lesser degree, related rivers, a large part of the continent's interior and many settlements were well connected to the Eastern seaboard . The problem was that the land rises about 600 feet (180 m) from the Hudson to Lake Erie. Locks at the time could handle up to 12 feet (3.7 m), so even with

9680-550: The task a growing one, a further conference was arranged in Philadelphia in 1787, with delegates from all the States. There the deliberations resulted in the framing of the Constitution , whereby the thirteen original States were united primarily on a commercial basis — the commerce of the times being chiefly by water. While it was not the first or only project started after the end of the American Revolution, its incorporation

9790-523: The twentieth century. From the first days of the expansion of the British colonies from the coast of North America into the heartland of the continent, a recurring problem was that of transportation between the coastal ports and the interior. This was not unique to the Americas, and the problem still exists in those parts of the world where muscle power provides a primary means of transportation within

9900-564: The unfinished portion of the road, with the deciding vote being cast by Henry Clay . By that time, railroads were proving a better method of long-distance transportation, and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was being built west from Baltimore to Cumberland, mostly along the Potomac River, and then by a more direct route than the National Road across the Allegheny Plateau of West Virginia (then Virginia) to Wheeling. Construction of

10010-564: The unreliability of the fuel source when they let it be known they planned no further risky expeditions as too costly, giving White and Hazard the idea of purchasing the rights to operate the mining company. In the fall of 1814 they mounted an expedition to survey the Lehigh's problems and those of the coal mine and transportation needs for getting its output to the River reliably and regularly. The lower Lehigh Canal improvements were initially designed and engineered by LC&N founder Josiah White after they'd very quickly become disenchanted with

10120-620: The upper Potomac River , and the French military station at Fort Duquesne at the forks of the Ohio River , (at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers ), an important trading and military point where the city of Pittsburgh now stands. It received its name during the colonial-era French and Indian War of 1753–1763 (also known as the Seven Years' War in Europe), when it

10230-471: The wagon and foot paths of the Braddock Road for travel between the Potomac and Ohio Rivers, following roughly the same alignment until just east of Uniontown, Pennsylvania . From there, where the Braddock Road turned north towards Pittsburgh, the new National Road/Cumberland Road continued west to Wheeling, Virginia (now West Virginia ), also on the Ohio River. The contract for the construction of

10340-405: The walls and additional cots could be hung from hooks in the ceiling. Some captains hired musicians and held dances. The canal had brought civilization into the wilderness. Two early 19th century canals had inordinately large impacts on the demographic and industrial development of the United States. The daring Erie Canal , begun in 1815 after a decade of debate and contemplation was a bid to join

10450-415: The water and sink to the bottom while his boat decelerated on with its remaining momentum. The privileged boat's team would step over the other boat's towline with their horses pulling the boat over the sunken towline without stopping. Once clear, the other boat's team would continue on its way. Pulled by teams of horses canal boats still moved slowly but methodically shrinking time and distance. Efficiently,

10560-404: The west, south, and Canada, and given a look at water communication, the risk was very real. Hence, from the start, the fledgling Constitutional Republic was conscience of benefits that could accrue from its involvement in developing infrastructure in the fledgling republic but was unable to generate revenues to boost such efforts. The rare exception in the era receiving federal public works monies

10670-406: Was 950 feet (290 m) long to span 800 feet (240 m) of river. As the canal progressed, the crews and engineers working on the project developed expertise and became a skilled labor force. Canal boats up to 3 + 1 ⁄ 2 feet (1.1 m) in draft were pulled by horses and mules on the towpath. This canal has one towpath generally on the north side. When canal boats met, the boat with

10780-492: Was a hotly debated subject because of the removal of the original macadam construction that made this road famous. The road's route between Baltimore and Cumberland continues to use the name National Pike or Baltimore National Pike and as Main Street in Ohio today, with various portions now signed as US 40, Alt. US 40 , or Maryland Route 144 . A spur between Frederick, Maryland , and Georgetown (Washington, D.C.) , now Maryland Route 355 , bears various local names, but

10890-414: Was a milestone because it was the first project that connected different regions and required the cooperation of multiple state governments. While the Potomac Company's charter eventually failed, the Maryland and Virginia acts of incorporation were very similar—the company stated it was going to raise 220,000 Spanish dollars (50, 000 pounds sterling) through 500 shares and also stated its plan and timeline. In

11000-716: Was advanced—from the inefficiency of the science of engineering to the probable destruction of all the fish in the streams. In spite of these discouragements, however, various men set themselves to form in rapid succession the Potomac Company in 1785, the Society for Promoting the Improvement of Inland Navigation in 1791, the Western Inland Lock Navigation Company in 1792, and the Lehigh Coal Mine Company in 1793. A brief review of these various enterprises will give

11110-406: Was built by the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company as a coal road to service the anthracite demand of the Eastern coast cities ahead of schedule, between 1818-1820 with down traffic only, and then gradually rebuilt with locks fully supporting two way traffic, between 1822-1824, 1827-1829 by the Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company and continued in operation as a key transportation canal until

11220-468: Was called in Britain "canal mania" . In the Thirteen Colonies in 1762 legislation was passed supporting in the colonial-era Province of Pennsylvania to improve navigation on the Schuylkill River through Philadelphia . Canals were critical industry, as until steam locomotives, canals were by the fastest way to travel long distances. Commercial canals generally had boatmen shifts that kept

11330-620: Was constructed by British General Edward Braddock , who was accompanied by Colonel George Washington of the Virginia militia regiment in the ill-fated July 1755 Braddock expedition , an attempt to assault the French-held Fort Duquesne. Construction of the Cumberland Road (which later became part of the longer National Road) was authorized on March 29, 1806, by Congress . The new Cumberland Road would replace

11440-426: Was developed simultaneously. Early railroads in North America made many canals economically feasible, and canal's needs added to the demands by industries that pushed the early railroads into pressurized research and development and rapid steady improvements. By 1855, canals were no longer the civil engineering work of first resort, for it was nearly always better—cheaper to build a railroad above ground than it

11550-528: Was expected to be immediately profitable. Also in 1802, the Patowmack Canal was completed after 17 years of construction. However, the poor snow in the winter of 1801-1802 and little spring rain in 1802 meant the river was too shallow to navigate that year. The late realization of these unanticipated problems caused the company to give up its earlier goal to link the Potomac and the Ohio Valley, and

11660-424: Was formed in 1792 to secure the mineral rights to vast areas of wilderness west of the Lehigh River ranging beyond to the outcrops atop Sharpe Peak of Pisgah Ridge near present-day Summit Hill, Pennsylvania . The LCMC lacked a principle investor as a hands-on-manager and periodically hired teams to trek to the wilderness to build 'Arks' along the Lehigh near the turnpike operated from Lausanne above Mauch Chunk to

11770-568: Was over a decade later and deemed far less risky, the Cumberland Turnpike conversion into a migration wagon road and the first National Highway , later to become US 40 . While slim flat bottom river boats called bateaux could be poled up-river in even the shallowest of waters, they could not traverse the fall line , the area where an upland region (continental bedrock) and a coastal plain (coastal alluvia ) meet, typically in waterfalls or cascades of successive rapids. One of

11880-736: Was stopped at Vandalia, Illinois , the then-capital of Illinois , 63 miles (101 km) northeast of St. Louis across the Mississippi River . The road has also been referred to as the Cumberland Turnpike , the Cumberland–Brownsville Turnpike (or Road or Pike), the Cumberland Pike , the National Pike , and the National Turnpike . In the 20th century with the advent of the automobile,

11990-550: Was successful and led to the incorporation of the Potomac Company in 1784 Maryland and 1785 in Virginia. These meetings would continue and have a major impact on national development as the navigations on the Potomac were in regular use supporting coal from Cumberland to Georgetown until 1929; in 1908 the Inland Waterways Commission notes the following significance: The earliest movement toward developing

12100-432: Was to dig a watertight ditch 6–8 feet (2–3 m) deep and provide it with water and make annual repairs for ice and freshet damages—even though the cost per ton mile on a canal was often cheaper in an operational sense, canals couldn't be built along hills and dales, nor backed into odd corners, as could a railroad siding. On the settled eastern seaboard, forest decimation created an energy crisis for coastal cities, but

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