The Delaware and Hudson Canal, with 108 locks, operated between Honesdale, Pennsylvania and Kingston, New York, providing service to Napanoch from 1828 to 1901. The canal enabled materials and supplies to be delivered to help build the Eastern New York Reformatory, which opened October 1, 1900. The prison was sited between lock #27 to its south and canal lock #26 to its north, and the canal ran through prison grounds. The property on which lock #26 was located was owned by Bob Decker. The original "Decker's Bridge" crossed the Rondout Creek south of lock #27.