Special Study - Pennsylvania Main Line Canal, Juniata and Western Divisions

Fritz, David; Clemensen, A.

During the American colonial period several towns such as Boston, New York, Philadelphia,and Baltimore developed into main trading ports. Merchants in those locations prospered. Atfirst their main domestic trading areas were nearby, but gradually these sources of tradeextended over ever greater distance. By the time of the American Revolution, a sufficientlylarge number of people had moved westward to warrant the extension of trade routes fartherand farther inland. Consequently, competition arose among these port city merchants tocapture more western trade, because their prosperity depended upon the amount ofcommerce they could attract to their home port. Transportation improvements were requiredto facilitate this trade. As a result, soon after the United States won its independence fromGreat Britain, merchants of the northeastern ports began to focus on turnpike construction. One of these first roads was completed between Philadelphia and Lancaster, Pennsylvania in1794. Another, which ultimately became the National Road, started in 1811 with federal aid.Over 4,000 turnpike miles had been built before the boom ended in the early 1820s. As the turnpike era ebbed, canal construction came to the fore. Merchants saw this new forrm of transportation as superior to land travel. The success of the Erie Canal. which connectedAlbany, New York on the Hudson River to Buffalo on Lake Erie and thus New York City toAlbany via the Hudson by October 1825. stimulated other work. A number of canals whichprovided access to tidewater ports soon followed. The Pennsylvania Main line Canal andRailroad system was among the more important of these waterways chartered in the 1820s.

Special Study - Pennsylvania Main Line Canal, Juniata and Western Divisions

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