Delaware and Raritan Canal

The idea of a canal between the Raritan and Delaware Rivers originated with William Penn, the founder of Pennsylvania, who suggested it in the 1690s. Such a canal would shorten the journey from Philadelphia to New York City by 100 miles, and relieve the need for boats to venture into the Atlantic Ocean.

At its peak in the 1860s, the canal transported over two million tons of cargo annually, primarily anthracite coal, and was officially listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.

19th century

In 1816, the New Jersey General Assembly created a commission of three people, including John Rutherfurd, a former United States Senator and a major landowner in New Jersey, which was authorized to survey and map a proposed route for a canal. Rutherfurd engaged John Randel Jr. to do the survey; Rutherfurd knew Randel from his work on the New York City Commissioners' Plan of 1811, for which Rutherfurd was one of the commissioners, and Randel was the chief surveyor. The route was to be "a level line as far as was practicable from Longbridge farm to the Delaware, and to the Raritan, in the shortest direction that the ground would admit, which line should be run with the greatest accuracy, and be esteemed the base line of the work." Randel spent two months surveying this route and, with the aid of a millwright, estimating water flow. They came to the conclusion that the canal would require less than an eighteenth of the water passing through the local streams, which would still leave enough water flow for local mills. Despite Randel's report, and the clear advantage of having such a canal, the opposition to the project managed to keep anything from happening until 1830.

On February 4, 1830, the New Jersey legislature passed legislation that created the charter for the D&R Canal. The charter for the Camden and Amboy Rail Road and Transportation Company was passed the same day. The D&R charter allocated $1.5 million of stock for construction which was required to be completed within eight years. The canal was to be considered a public highway although the corporation would be allowed to collect tolls and transit duties for passengers and cargo transported along the canal.

The canal was almost not dug due to the lack of subscriptions. When that occurred, Robert F. Stockton, the grandson of Richard Stockton, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, pledged his and his family's personal fortune to continue the work. The canal system was dug mostly by hand tools, mostly by Irish immigrants. Work began in 1830 and was completed in 1834, at an estimated cost of $2,830,000, equal to $91,267,500 today. When the canal first opened, before the steam engine was developed, teams of mules were used to tow canal boats through it.

The canal's greatest usage occurred during the 1860s and 1870s when it was used primarily to transport coal from Pennsylvania to New York City during the American Industrial Revolution. On May 18, 1872, the D&R Canal Company was merged with several parallel railroads into the United New Jersey Railroad and Canal Company and leased by the Pennsylvania Railroad.

20th century

D&R Canal's importance waned as railroads were used to perform, more rapidly, the same function as canals, but it remained in operation until 1932. Years later, the section between Trenton and Bordentown was filled for various road and rail projects, leaving the feeder waters to solely supply the main canal from Trenton, New Jersey north to New Brunswick. Two other sections of the canal were piped underground: one in Trenton when the Trenton Freeway was constructed in 1952, and the other in New Brunswick when the Elmer Boyd Parkway Extension (Route 18) was constructed in 1984.