Millerstown, founded in 1790 as the first borough in Perry County, long served as a transportation hub. From the time of settlement, river arks and flatboats navigated the Juniata River, and by 1822 a north-south stage road linked Clarks Ferry with Lewistown while an east-west road carried the abundant harvests of Pfoutz and Raccoon Valleys to market. In April 1827, the Pennsylvania Legislature funded extension of the eastern section of the Main Line Canal from Clarks Ferry to Lewistown, and the full line entered service in November 1829 when a celebratory canal boat carrying elected officials traveled to Newport. In 1830, the first boat built west of Harrisburg, the Pennsylvania, was launched at Millerstown on July 4th. The canal expanded markets for local produce and commodities, brought cheaper and heavier goods to local businesses, and carried coal from the anthracite fields to the local iron furnace and tannery. A boat dock about two blocks north of the square gave residents access to grocery boats where grain, hay, chickens, eggs, and butter were bought and sold, while the presence of both canal and turnpike supported numerous hotels for travelers. About two miles below Millerstown, canal boats crossed the river by means of an endless rope-tow, and a dam at North's Island created an eight-foot slack-water pool to provide sufficient water. After crossing, westbound boats continued through Millerstown toward Lewistown and ultimately reached Hollidaysburg, where they were taken over the mountain on a railway lift and returned to the water for the final leg to Pittsburgh. The Pennsylvania Railroad reached Millerstown in 1849 and greatly reduced canal transportation; by the end of the 19th century the canal era had closed, and in the 1960s a four-lane highway built directly atop the canal bypassed the town, though remnants of the canal and stone aqueduct abutments still remain nearby.