Pennsylvania Board of Canal Commissioners' records, with allied records of canal companies chartered by the Commonwealth; descriptive index, prepared by Hubertis M. Cummings, research associate
The memorial and petition of the president and directors of the Chesapeak and Delaware Canal Company, to the Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. January 1, 1806
Remarks of Mr. Champneys, of Lancaster Country, on the bill to reduce the state debt, and to incorporate the Pennsylvania Canal and Railroad Co., in connexion with his former remarks on the same bill
"Pennsylvania had at one time and another approximately 1,250 miles of canal connecting almost all sections of the state in extensive freight and passenger activity. There are few visible traces of the Pennsylvania Main Line Canal which, beginning in 1834, extended from Pittsburgh on the Allegheny to Philadelphia on the Delaware, some 400 miles. Canals were built for economic reasons in Pennsylvania; they had a vigorous and short life; their functions were carried on under great difficulties; and they were rapidly taken over by the railroads. The canals are all but gone today. This book is an attempt to organize the existing literature and materials about the canals, chiefly with respect to the Main Line Canal, in a manner that so far as possible clears the factual record and preserves the significant details." [from the introduction].
Chapters include: Early Waterways/ The Development of Canals/ The Canal Boom/ Building the Main Line Canal/ The Main Line Railroads/ Branch and Interstate Connections/ Canal Prosperity/ Navigating the Canal/ The Canallers/ Main Line Travel/ Canal Troubles/ Sale and Abandonment/ Canal Remnants.
Printed by Jane Aitken, No. 71, North Third street,
Date of Publication
1811.
Physical Description
1 preliminary leaf, 125 pages 23 cm
Notes
Jasper Yeates's Colonial Law Library.
Yeates's signature at top of title page.
Book number 461 as assigned by Yeates.
Bound with Oration on masonry: delivered at St. John's church in the city of Philadelphia, at the request of the right worshipful Grand Lodge of Pennsylvania, on St. John's day, June 24, 1811, by James Milnor. Philadelphia: J. Maxwell, 1811 -- Proposals, by Farrand and Nichholas for publishing by subscription ...The American Review of history and politics. Place not identified: publisher not identified, 1810 -- Proposals for publishing by subscription, a translation from the French, of. LeSages's historical genealogial chronological and geographical atlas. Philadelphia: Jane Aiken, 1819 -- A description of the chain bridge; invented by Judge Finley, of Fayette County Pennsylvania...Uniontown, Pa: William Campbell, 1811 -- The pioneeer, vol. I, no. IV, May 5, 1812 -- The Port folio (new series) by Oliver Oldschool, Esq. Philadelphia, Saturday, March 12, 1808 -- Annual discourse, delivered before the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts on the 13th of November 1810 by Joseph Hopkinson. Philadelphia: published by Bradford and Inskeep; Inseeep and Bradford, New York: and William M'Ilhenry, Boston, Sweeny & M'Kenzie, printers, 1810 -- Reply to Mr. Burke's invective against Mr. Cooper, and Mr. Watt, in the House of Commons on the30th of April, 1792, by Thomas Cooper. London: printed for J. Johnson, in St. Paul's Church Yard; and M Falkner and Co., Manchester, M,DCC,XCII (1792) -- Narrative of the proceedings against Thomas Cooiper, exquire, president judge of the eighth judiciary district of Pennsylvania, on a charge of official misconduct. Lancaster: printed by William Hamilton, 1811; -- [Narrative on the title of West Florida]. Place not identified:published not identified. date not identified -- Observations on the conduct of our executive towards Spain. Place not identified:published not identified. date not identified -- Letters, addressed to the people of Pennsylvania respecting the internal improvement, of the commonwealth; by means of roads and canals by William J. Duane. Philadelphia: printed by Jane Aiken, No 71, North Third Street, 18ll --An address of the members of theHouse of Representatives, of the Congress of the United States, to their consitutents, on the subject of the war with Great Britain. Philadelphia: printed at the office of the United States' Gazette, date not identified; Documents and facts, relative to military events, during the late war by Jno. P. Boyd. Place not identified:published not identified. date not identified-- Darstellung des in Baltimore am 27 und 28sten Julii, 1812, gemachten Angriffs auf die presfreyheit, und das leben der Bertheidiger defelben. Philadelphia: gedruct bey Conrad Zentler, in der Zwenten Stresse, unterhalb der Regs Strasse, 1812 -- Plan of an improved system of the money-concerns of the Union by Erick Bollman, M.D. Philadelphia: printed for the auther. Wiliam Fry, printer, Walnut, near Fifth Street, 1816; Articles of the Farmer's Bank of Lancaster. Place not idenifiied: Printed by Hugh Hamilton, date not identified.
Machine generated contents note: Table of Contents 1. Early America and the Coming of the Transportation Revolution 2. The State of Pennsylvania's Program of Canals and Railroads (1826-1858) 3. The Eastern Division of the Pennsylvania Canal 4. The Western Division of the Pennsylvania Canal 5. The Juniata Division of the Pennsylvania Canal 6. The Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad 7. The Allegheny Portage Railroad 8. The Susquehanna, West Branch, and North Branch Divisions 9. The Delaware Division of the Pennsylvania Canal 10. Pittsburgh to Lake Erie -- The French Creek Division, the Beaver Division, and the Erie Extension 11. The Gettysburg Extension and the Demise of the State of Pennsylvania's Canals and Railroads Bibliography Index -- About the Author.
Summary
"Between 1826 and 1858 the state of Pennsylvania built and operated the largest and most technologically advanced system of canals and railroads in North America-almost one thousand miles of transport that stretched from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh and beyond. The construction of this ambitious transportation system was accompanied with great euphoria. It was widely believed that the revenue created from these canals and railroads would eliminate the need for all taxes on state citizens. Yet with the Panic of 1837, a financial crisis much like boom and bust cycle that ended in 2008, a deep recession fell across the country.By 1856, Pennsylvania had sold all canals and railroads to private companies, often for pennies-on-the-dollar. Over the Alleghenies: Early Canals and Railroads of Pennsylvania is the definitive history of the state of Pennsylvania's incredible canal and railroad system. Although often condemned as a colossal failure, this construction effort remains an innovative, magnificent feat that ushered in modern transportation to Pennsylvania and the entire country. With extensive primary research, over one hundred illustrations, newspapers clippings, and charts and graphs, Over the Alleghenies examines and dissects the infrastructure project that bankrupted the wealthiest state in the Union. "--
