Chesapeake and Delaware Canal - Delaware City, DE
Posted by: 
94RedRover
N 39° 34.706 W 075° 35.263
18S E 449525 N 4381134
At the Battery Park on the end of Clinton Street in Delaware City, the Eastern Lock of the C&D Canal marked the beginning of the historic canal.
Waymark Code: WM6NXV
Location: Delaware, United States
Date Posted: 06/28/2009
Views: 12
The Chesapeake and Delaware Canal (C&D Canal) is a 14-mile ship canal connecting the Delaware River with the Chesapeake Bay and the Port of Baltimore. The canal was an answer to the need for more economical transportation of goods for increased growth of industry and commerce.
Augustine Herman, a Dutch mapmaker had proposed a waterway be built to connect those two bodies of water, thus eliminating 300 miles of travel in the mid 1600s. It wasn't until 1764 that the idea of a waterway like the canal was even addressed, and it wasn't until 1788 with the urging of business leaders like Benjamin Franklin and Benjamin Rush again proposed the idea. In 1802 the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal Company was incorporated. Construction of the canal with 14 locks began in 1804.
Financial difficulties halted the project after two years of construction. Finally in 1822, new surveys were done to determine funds needed to complete the project. Through public offering, the project began again in April 1824. In 1829 the C&D Canal Company opened the canal for transportation. The canal cost almost $2.5 million to build, making it one of the most expensive canal projects of its time.
Eventually advancments in shipping brought deeper-draft vessels that could not navigate through the narrow and shallow locks of the C&D Canal. By the early 1900s, decline in canal traffic and increased cost of operation caused the downfall of the canal. In 1906 President Theodore Roosevelt converted the canal to a "free and open waterway."
The Federal Government purchased the canal in 1919 and designated it part of the "Intra-coastal Waterway Delaware River to Chesapeake Bay, Delaware and Maryland." In 1927, after $10 million in repairs, the newer, deeper lock-free canal was opened. Between 1935 and 1938, the canal was again widened and deepened to accomodate larger commercial ships. Not only did the canal have to be expanded for these ships, certain vehicular bridges traversing the canal had to be replaced with higher span bridges.
The lock located here in Delaware City was the entrance to the canal, and the first lock. People would gather at the Battery Park lawn and watch the great ships bring goods and the economy here prospered. The commerce of the town was directly connected to this canal. As the canal profit dwindled, the prosperity of the town followed suit.
The Eastern Lock was the only one of the 14 locks that was not removed during expansion, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975, and was also marked as a National Civil Engineering Landmark in 1985.
Location:
Begins at Delaware City, Delaware
Type of structure/site: Canal
Date of Construction: 1802
Engineering Organization Listing: American Society of Civil Engineers
Primary Web Site: [Web Link]
Secondary Web Site: [Web Link]
Engineer/Architect/Builder etc.: Not listed
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