Early Canals of the Mid-Atlantic States

Several hundred years ago in the early days of our Country, travel and material transportation was not easily accomplished. Canalized rivers and manmade canals were the most practical means of developing transit to the interior of the Country. At the beginning of the 19th century there were less than 100 miles of canals in the country yet by midcentury there were well over 4,000 miles of canals throughout the land. Indeed, canals served as the interstate highways of the day. However, not all the canals were for transportation as there were also irrigation canals as well as canals to provide water power, particularly for the textile and paper mills of New England