How a Lock Works

Canal boats traveling uphill or downhill were raised or lowered in locks because canals remained level rather than following the land's slope like rivers and streams. As a boat approached, the captain blew a horn, sometimes a conch shell, to alert the lockkeeper to open and close the gate. After the boat entered the lock, a crewmember jumped ashore and wrapped a rope around a snubbing post to stop it. The lockkeeper then closed the gate and raised or lowered the water according to the boat's direction. When the water in the lock matched the next level, the gates were opened and the canal boat continued on. Boats traveling upstream entered locks like these and were raised about 6 feet to the next level. Pennsylvania Canal Packet Boat Muncy Historical Society volunteers reconstructed an authentic 1860s Canal Packet Boat after salvaging the cabin, and in 2004 Muncy Historical Society received recognition from the American Association of State & Local History and the PA Federation of Museums and Historic Organizations for preserving the Packet Boat.

Pennsylvania · United States