Conflicts with Timber Rafts

A sixteen-foot-high slackwater dam built by the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company in 1828 created a pool of deep, slow-moving water so canal boats could safely cross the Delaware River, but it immediately brought conflict with raftsmen because many timber rafts were damaged while navigating the dam. Beginning in the late 1700s, timber raftsmen used the Delaware River to float logs to market, and for more than a century, especially when the river was high during the spring freshet, thousands of logs were rafted to Easton's sawmills and Philadelphia's shipyards. Because the slackwater dam diverted water into the canal, the company maintained it until 1898 even after the aqueduct was built. When the canal was first built, mules and their drivers crossed the river on a rope ferry while canal boats were poled or floated across and the mules were then reattached. In 1848 the company rerouted the canal to improve operations, and the Delaware Aqueduct's masonry piers were spaced far enough apart to accommodate the passage of large timber rafts.

Pennsylvania · United States