SAVE THE DATES
BICENTENNIAL DAYS May 16-20, 2025
with activities in
READING and OTHER CANAL TOWNS
along the Schuylkill River
Articles, links, and listings will be posted here to promote the 200th birthday celebration of the Schuylkill Navigation, Pennsylvania’s pioneering slackwater-canal system. This page will be updated as the anniversary approaches, so check back often.
- Events will take place along the Navigation in the five Pennsylvania counties of Schuylkill, Berks, Chester, Montgomery, and Philadelphia.
- Download this letter to send to any organizations, societies, or schools that might like to know about this anniversary, participate in any events, or plan classes or programs about the Navigation.
- Join our Schuylkill Navigation Facebook Group.
TWO CANALS
Philadelphia has two canals:
1. The Manayunk Canal, still watered with intact lock chambers at both ends, and
2. The Fairmount Canal, with just a few hard-to-spot remnants left.
This 12-page booklet by Fairmount Water Works educator Sandy Sorlien tells the story of both our canals, and the legacy of the associated industries, pollution, and cleanup.
Together these Philadelphia canals didn’t even add up to three miles. But they were critical levels of the 108-mile Schuylkill Navigation that brought anthracite coal and other cargo from Schuylkill County all the way to our tide lock at the Fairmount Dam, and provided water power to mills.
TWENTY-SEVEN CANALS
The Schuylkill Navigation is often called the Schuylkill Canal. But actually the system included 27 canals, each with its own name, not to mention 32 dams and their slackwater pools. Thus, 200 years ago, the shallow, rocky Schuylkill River was tamed. Boats up to 100 feet long traveled in and out of the river pools and canals. They brought cargo from coal country to tidewater, and went back up. There were scores of hand-built stone locks to handle the elevation change, totaling 618 feet of “lift”, and aqueducts to carry the canals over streams. The Navigation ceased operation in _______, but many structures survive: some standing in the woods, some buried under fill; one even survives underwater.
The private Schuylkill Navigation Company, based in Philadelphia, chartered their system in 1815. Construction began in 1816, a year before the Erie Canal started their construction. The upper and lower sections of the Schuylkill Navigation were built simultaneously with individual canals operating as early as 1818 or 1819, including the one in Manayunk. The two long sections finally connected through Reading on May 20, 1825.
This new article by Stuart Wells explains why we chose that date to celebrate.
Schuylkill Navigation Bicentennial 2025 EVENTS
Late Winter and Early Spring 2025 – Navigation Cleanups: Auburn Tunnel, Snyder’s Aqueduct, Lock 27, Lock 57, Vincent Canal, etc.
Spring 2025: Grand Reopening of the Manayunk Canal at Flat Rock, insider’s tours with PWD
Saturday April 5, 2025 – All-Day Canal-Rail Excursion with Reading Blue Mountain & Northern Railroad, a fundraiser for the American Canal Society.
Canal Heritage Marker Dedication Ceremonies (Dates TBA)
- Catfish Dam and Locks, Schuylkill River Trail near Betzwood Bridge
- Vincent Canal, Spring City
- Lock 27 at Port Clinton, Schuylkill Gap
BICENTENNIAL WEEKEND May 16-20, 2025
Saturday May 17: Along the Navigation
Open House Canaling Day at individual historical societies and parks along the Navigation. Links will be posted here.
Sunday May 18 History Symposium
Display Tables, and Self-Guided Walking Tours: C. Howard Hiester Canal Center at the Berks County Heritage Center, Reading
Monday May 19 All-day bus tour of the upper reaches of the Navigation. (Park at Hiester Canal Center)
Tuesday May 20 All-day bus tour of the lower reaches of the Navigation. (Park at Hiester Canal Center)
PARTIES
Friday May 16: Reading Fightin’ Phillies baseball picnic OR music/brewpub
Saturday May 17: Reading Fightin’ Phillies baseball picnic OR music/brewpub
JUNE 2025 Schuylkill Sojourn Adopt-a-Canal-Boat
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE SCHUYLKILL NAVIGATION
MAPS & DRAWINGS
Reading Area Community College Schuylkill Navigation Collection
City Plans Collection, Streets Department of Philadelphia
1891 Maps
1827 Maps
Google map by ???
ARTICLES
Stuart William Wells, The Schuylkill Navigation and the Girard Canal
Edward S. Gibbons, The Building of the Schuylkill Navigation System 1815-1828
Walter S. Sanderlin, The Expanding Horizons of the Schuylkill Navigation Company 1815-1870
Find More Resources on the Facebook Page
RELATED ORGANIZATIONS
GOVERNMENT OFFICES
Montgomery County…..
Schuylkill County…..
C. Howard Hiester Canal Center at the Berks County Heritage Center [Brief blurb about the organization and its relationship to the Navigation]
Fairmount Waterworks (Philadelphia Water Department) [Brief blurb about the organization and its relationship to the Navigation]
……..
HISTORICAL SOCIETIES
Spring-Ford Area Historical Society [Brief blurb about the organization and its relationship to the Navigation]
King of Prussia Historical Society [Brief blurb about the organization and its relationship to the Navigation]
Leesport Lock House Foundation [Brief blurb about the organization and its relationship to the Navigation]
………
CANAL PARKS and TRAILS
Schuylkill Canal Association [Brief blurb about the organization and its relationship to the Navigation]
Lock 60 at the Schuylkill Canal Park [Brief blurb about the organization and its relationship to the Navigation]
……
The image at the top of the page is a detail of an 1847 map of the Manayunk Canal by John Levering, from the collection of the City Plans Unit, Streets Department of Philadelphia. This tracing of the original was made by H. H. Platt, probably in the late 19th century. You can view the full map here.