Roebling's Delaware Aqueduct Site: Cultural Landscapes Inventory, Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River
Killion J and Young J. 2025. Roebling's Delaware Aqueduct Site: Cultural Landscapes Inventory, Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River. Cultural Landscapes Inventory Report. 300159. National Park Service. NPS Northeast Regional Office, Boston, Massachusetts / CRIS-CL Database
Roebling’s Delaware Aqueduct Site is part of the Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River, a unit of the National Park Service established in 1978 to conserve, protect, and interpret 73.4 miles of the river and its outstanding natural and cultural resources. The centerpiece of the property is Roebling’s Delaware Aqueduct, known locally as the Roebling Bridge, a former aqueduct built in 1847-48 across the Delaware River just below its confluence with the Lackawaxen River. The rehabilitated structure now carries vehicular and pedestrian traffic between the hamlet of Lackawaxen in the Township of Lackawaxen in Pike County, Pennsylvania, and the hamlet of Minisink Ford in the Town of Highland, Sullivan County, New York. The Delaware Aqueduct was built by John A. Roebling, the renowned nineteenth-century American civil engineer and later designer of the Brooklyn Bridge. The aqueduct was one of four suspension aqueducts on the Delaware & Hudson Canal, a 108-mile-long waterway opened in 1829 to supply the Atlantic seaboard’s growing demand for anthracite coal in heating, smelting, and steam generation. The canal operated until 1898, after which it was dewatered and most of its infrastructure was redeveloped or left to ruin. In 1968, Roebling’s Delaware Aqueduct was one of five intact locations associated with the canal to be designated as a National Historic Landmark. The American Society of Civil Engineers declared the aqueduct a National Civil Engineering Landmark in 1972. Remnants of drained canal beds, earthen towpaths, and stone retaining walls survive on the Pennsylvania and New York sides of Roebling’s Delaware Aqueduct, as does a toll house dating to 1908. Parking lots, sidewalks, and trails provide visitor access to these features, while waysides interpret the history of the former aqueduct and canal. Roebling’s Delaware Aqueduct Site is a heavily visited facility in the park, with an annual visitation exceeding 60,000 visitors. The two parking lots are open for public use 365 days a year. During the busy summer season, the lots are used on a daily basis from mid-June thru mid-October and weekends throughout the winter months for eagle watching.
- Type
- Published Report
- Authors
- Killion, Jeffrey; Young, Jaime
- Date of Issue
- 2025
- Publisher
- National Park Service
- Units
- NER , UPDE
- Keywords
- And Taverns East Of The Mississippi., Aqueduct, Canal, Canal Lock, Canals, Commerce, Culvert (Waste Weir), Delaware Aqueduct, Developing the American Economy, Early Turnpikes, Engineering, etc), Expanding Science and Technology, Historic Site, Mining (Coal, NPS Class I Principal Road, Oil, Outdoor Recreation, Overlook, Parking Area, Road Bridge, Roads, Roebling’s Delaware Aqueduct (Roebling Bridge), Ruin, Salt Peter, Shipping and Transportation by Water, Technology (Engineering and Invention), The Mining Frontier, Transportation, Transportation by Land and Air, Wayside Exhibit