Union Canal Company of Pennsylvania

The Schuylkill and Susquehanna Navigation Company, founded in 1791, and the Delaware and Schuylkill Navigation Company, founded in 1792, merged in 1811 to form the Union Canal Company for the purpose of building an east-west canal through Pennsylvania.

The Union Canal Company of Pennsylvania was incorporated in Pennsylvania on April 2, 1811, for the purpose of linking the Schuylkill River near Reading with the Susquehanna near Middletown. It was the successor to two earlier enterprises, the Schuylkill & Susquehanna Navigation and the Delaware & Schuylkill Canal Company, both chartered in 1792 and abandoned before any part could be completed. The Schuylkill & Susquehanna nearly duplicated the route later chosen for the Union Canal. The Delaware & Schuylkill was to run from Norristown to the Delaware River in Philadelphia and was not revived. The two companies were to form important links in Philadelphia's chain of communications with the West.

The Union Canal was originally allowed to raise capital by means of lotteries. Work was delayed by the War of 1812 and the subsequent depression but finally began in 1822. The main line was completed on December 28, 1827. The summit level proved to have an inadequate supply of water, and it was necessary to build a 17-mile feeder canal and a reservoir at Jonestown. This branch opened on December 3, 1830. As it terminated close to the anthracite coal fields, the company built a short railroad from Pine Grove, at the head of the feeder, to the mines at Lorberry in 1833.

The Union Canal was planned at the beginning of the canal era and was technically obsolete by the time it opened. It was extremely narrow and could pass boats of only 25 tons burden. Much of the canal passed over limestone bedrock, causing the loss of water by percolation. The canal thus proved non-competitive for long-distance traffic and was used primarily for supplying coal to the iron furnaces at Lebanon and along the lower Susquehanna Valley. The canal was enlarged for 80-ton boats between 1850 and 1857.

A flood in 1862 destroyed the feeder north of Jonestown and cut off the coal traffic. The railroad was sold to the Philadelphia & Reading in January 1866. The remainder of the canal was operated for local traffic until the fall of 1884. The company was sold at foreclosure and reorganized as the Schuylkill & Middletown Canal Company, but the new firm did not restore the works. The Philadelphia & Reading Railroad Company purchased the entire property in October 1890 in order to obtain the real estate for railroad purposes.

The Union Canal Company of Pennsylvania was incorporated in Pennsylvania on April 2, 1811, for the purpose of linking the Schuylkill River near Reading with the Susquehanna River near Middletown. The company was allowed to raise capital by means of lotteries. Work was delayed by the War of 1812 and the subsequent depression but finally began in 1822. The main line was completed on December 28, 1827. The summit level proved to have inadequate supplies of natural water, and it was necessary to build a 17-mile feeder canal and reservoir at Jonestown. This branch opened on December 3, 1830. As it terminated close to the anthracite coal fields, the company built a short railroad from Pine Grove, at the head of the feeder, to Lorberry in 1833.

The Union Canal was planned at the beginning of the canal era and was technically obsolete by the time it opened. It was extremely narrow and could pass boats of only 25 tons burden. Much of the canal passed over limestone bedrock, causing the loss of water by percolation. The canal thus proved non-competitive for long-distance traffic and was used primarily for supplying coal to the iron furnaces at Lebanon and the lower Susquehanna Valley. The canal was enlarged for 80-ton boats between 1850 and 1857.

A flood in 1862 destroyed the feeder north of Jonestown and cut off the coal traffic. The railroad was sold to the Philadelphia & Reading in January 1866. The remainder of the canal was operated for local traffic until the fall of 1884. The company was sold at foreclosure and reorganized as the Schuylkill & Middletown Canal Company, but the new firm did not restore the works. The Philadelphia & Reading Railroad Company purchased the entire property in October 1890 in order to obtain the real estate for future railroad purposes.