Union Canal Tunnel, Lebanon. December 2020
[from FB post: December 15,2020]
An engineering marvel in its time (1828) it was only used for about 60 years. It helped connect Philadelphia with Harrisburg. It actually goes under the hills that divide the waters that flow to the Delaware River (Tulpehocken Creek) and the Susquehanna (Swatara Creek)
In the age of canals during the mid-19th century, the Union Canal connected Reading (and by extension, Philadelphia) to Harrisburg and the Susquehanna River. Just north of Harrisburg were the great deposits of anthracite coal, as precious in those times as oil is in this age. With the rise of the railroads, canals went bankrupt and most quickly fell into disrepair. In many cases the new rail lines just filled in the canals which provided easy flat pathways for their locomotives. Some canals became linear parks such as the C&O Canal between DC and Cumberland, Maryland. Some canals continue to operate, if only for nostalgic tourists, like the Erie Canal. Most, however, fell into rapid disrepair and vanished, their stone locks remaining like mysterious archeological ruins along creeks and rivers.
The Union Canal tunnel, however, remained. Never completely left to fall down, it was eventually purchased by the county to become what is now part of a 110-acre park. The tunnel itself is unique and historical:
Designated a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 1970, this tunnel is the oldest existing transportation tunnel in the United States. At the time of its construction, it was considered a work almost unknown in this country. (lebanoncounty.org)
The part of Pennsylvania I grew up in and around never ceases to amaze me with its number of "firsts", when the USA was a new, emerging nation. In addition, the tunnel construction was none-too-easy.
Dug through the ridge dividing the waters of the Quittapahilla Creek and Clark’s Run, the tunnel was originally 729 feet long. Drilling was done by hand and blasting with gunpowder through argillaceous slate rock with veins of hard flinty limestone 80 feet below the summit of the ridge. Progress of the work was 5 yards lineal per week. Work began May 1825 and was completed in June 1827, at a total cost of $30,404.29. (lebanoncountyhistory.org)
15 feet a week! And the project took two years. In today's dollars, it cost about $830,000. Used less than 30 years, did the people of the day think it was a waste of money? Then again, it was paid for by a private entity and not taxes, so maybe no one really cared. After traveling and seeing places that have survived centuries, 30 years appears almost "wasteful" for the money and effort put into it.
Canal boats were pulled along by mules on a "tow path". In the case of this tunnel, the mules were unhitched and led up over the ridge while the boats were polled through the tunnel. These days tourists can take motorized boats through the tunnel and back to recreate a few moments of what riding a canal boat was like nearly 200 years ago. Canal boat life was an entire industry and culture in American history that existed almost like a camera flash. There would have been just one or two generations of people who worked on and around the canals and boats, and then they were gone - like the late 20th century "typists" and "word processors" - once an essential job for only a few decades, now vanished. {see: Vinegar Ferry}
As I have mentioned repeatedly, I am a strong advocate of "local knowledge". So many things exist in everyone's local area that remain "unknown" except to a few interested souls who maintain historical societies. This is a heritage that people should not only learn about, but feel proud of and somehow connected to. No one will preserve the past if they remain ignorant of and disconnect to it. All places have a history - it is our duty to know at least some of it.
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