The "From Wrightsville To Havre de Grace: Navigating The Canal - Part I" Story

The Lock House in Havre de Grace, Maryland

It was an ordinary day.  Just spent the past half-hour or so visiting The Lock House of the Susquehanna and Tidewater Canal Co. in Havre de Grace, Maryland.  About a year ago I wrote a series of stories that told of the development of the Pennsylvania Canal system that ran from Columbia, Pennsylvania to the north.  It was in 1826 that a Canal Convention convened at the State Capitol in Harrisburg, PA at which time it was decided to build a network of canals connecting the Susquehanna River with Ohio. At the time the canal stopped at Columbia, about 20 miles from my hometown of Lancaster, PA.  

The Pennsylvania Canal as seen in Columbia, PA

Being that Pennsyl- vania, Lancaster County in particular, had rich farmland, Pennsyl- vania finally decided to back the construction of the Susquehanna and Tidewater Canal that would link the Pennsylvania Canal with the Chesapeake Bay to help carry produce and minerals to new markets.  

Items for transport would go across from Columbia in Lancaster
County to Wrightsville in York County on this two-level bridge.

It was decided to transport goods across the Susque- hanna from Columbia, in Lancaster County, to Wrights- ville, in York County where the new canal was built from 1835 to 1839.  The 45-mile long Susquehanna and Tidewater Canal went from Wrightsville to Havre de Grace, Maryland where it opened into the headwaters of the Chesapeake Bay.  

Traffic can be seen on the Susquehanna and Tidewater
Canal in this photo featuring a flat-bottom canal boat.

For years traffic on the canal was heavy, but then legal disputes, railroad competi- tion, storm-related problems and insufficient funds led to the demise of the canal.   Pennsyl- vania's Susque- hanna Canal never reopened after a flood in 1894 and the Susquehanna and Tidewater Canal finally stopped operations about 1900.  Very little of the Susquehanna and Tidewater Canal remains, but today Carol and I, along with friends Jerry and Just Sue, are standing along the part that stands in front of The Lock House.  A few minutes later we entered The Lock House and learned about how the canal operated in its heyday. Follow along tomorrow as I take you through the historical Lock House and its operation.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

Information on the front of The Lock House.  Click on photo to enlarge.