Pennsylvania and New York Canal and Rail Road Company

The Pennsylvania and New York Canal and Rail Road Company was incorporated as the North Branch Canal Company on April 21, 1858. On May 25, 1858, it acquired a line of canal along the Susquehanna River originally constructed and operated by the State of Pennsylvania. The section from the Northumberland to Nanticoke Pool had originally opened in 1831, that from Nanticoke Pool to Old Forge feeder dam in 1834, and the extension from Pittston to New York state line in 1856.

The section of the canal below Wilkes-Barre, which enjoyed a profitable coal traffic, was resold almost immediately to the Wyoming Canal Company. The operation of the remaining portion from Wilkes-Barre to the state line was less profitable. On March 20, 1865, the company was authorized to construct a railroad alongside the canal and change its name to the Pennsylvania and New York Canal and Rail Road Company. The reorganization was effected on January 15, 1866, under the control of the Lehigh Valley Railroad Company, whose western extension the line now became. The railroad was completed over its entire length in 1869, and the canal from Pittston to the New York line was abandoned at the end of the 1871 boating season.

The line of canal from the Old Forge feeder dam to Wilkes-Barre continued to be maintained, as it was the only source of water for the lower section from Wilkes-Barre to Nanticoke Pool, now owned by the Pennsylvania Canal Company, a subsidiary of the Pennsylvania Railroad. The entire canal from Old Forge to Nanticoke Pool was abandoned in 1882. The Pennsylvania and New York Canal and Rail Road Company was merged into the Lehigh Valley Railroad on December 31, 1949.

From the description of North Branch Canal Maps, 1867-1890 [microform]. (Hagley Museum & Library). WorldCat record id: 122547789