Pennsylvania Canal Archives - The American Canal Society

The Society Newsletter – An Often Overlooked Resource

A few years ago, I was given a collection of canal research materials, and in all those boxes were neatly organized and bound newsletters of many canal societies. It is a remarkable collection. So this is a reminder that if you are conducting research on the history of any canal in North America, don’t overlook this invaluable wealth of information that has been presented in the journals, bulletins and newsletters of the state and regional canal societies and organizations.

To call these publications newsletters is often a disservice. The articles feature exploration and research conducted by dedicated volunteers who were engineers, academics and people who had spent a good deal of their lives researching the topics. And the subject matter is fairly wide ranging, from trip recaps to in-depth study into the workings of a lock or reservoir, or the biography of people who worked on the canals. The pages capture the loss of canal sites, the rise of the rail-to-trail movements and the preservation of canal remains. Many of these feature photos and maps drawn by the author. In short, they are as wide ranging as the membership tended to be. Most also carry some news and organizational business.

Most of the societies published on a two to four issues a year schedule. Beginning in the 2000s, some groups reduced their issues, and opted to use their website and blog space for content. Others, like the Canal Society of Indiana, went to the fully digital model, offering everything online and making their latest issue available to all, members and nonmembers alike. There continues to be a debate about the print verses digital model, but most of these groups continue to print and mail a newsletter at least once per year.

These publications were mailed to the membership and often to libraries and archives that might find them useful. Here is a listing of what is available and how to find them.

American Canal Society (ACS)

Name of publication – American Canals

Format / size – 8.5 by 11

Date of first issue- Spring 1972

Issues per year (currently) – 4

Publication History – American Canals was begun by Thomas Hahn with the purpose of providing and sharing information between the many state and regional canal groups. The issues carried reprints from other newsletters, and new research on canals and navigations in states that did not have canal societies.

Index available – Digital index on website

Digital copies available – All issues, except most recent, available as downloadable pdfs.

Repository / Archives – Currently at a private home.

Other Information- Over the years, eight Best From American Canals have been published as separate publications. These reprint many of the more in-depth articles that had appeared in the quarterly newsletter.

C&O Canal Association

Name of publication – Along the Towpath

Format / size – 8.5 by 11

Date of first issue – March 1970

Issues per year – Quarterly

Publication History – The first issue was published in March 1970 as Volume 1, Number 1. The Association had printed and mailed a few newsletters in the 1960 labeled as The Level Walker. These were printed “as needed,” and five issues were mailed. Since 1970, the Association has published on a quarterly schedule. The website notes that the newsletter contains information on upcoming events and current issues concerning the C&O Canal National Historical Park, as well as photographs and historical articles.

Index available – No, however, there is a index to the articles written by Dr. Karen Gray on the C&O Canal Association website.

Digital copies available – Yes, as pdf downloads

Repository / Archives –

Other Information – It should be noted that as a National Historical Park, there is an abundance of information available online. This listing is for the newsletter of the C&O Canal Association only.

Canal Society of Indiana (CSI)

Name of publication – The Tumble

Format / size – Digital

Date of first issue – October 1981

Issues per year – monthly

Publication History – From the 40^th Anniversary Newsletter, we get this history. The first issue was published as Indiana Waterways, which was called Volume 1, Issue 1, October 1981. The name was changed in October, 1989, to Indiana Canals, which was then called Volume 1, Number 1. In 2002, Indiana Canals was combined with a monthly newsletter and rebranded as The Hoosier Packet, which was offered as a monthly publication. Then in 2017, the society elected to go to an all online format under the name The Tumble.

Index available – There is an online listing by subject, and the society has a index that is not online.

Digital copies available – All issues of The Tumble and the Hoosier Packet are available as pdf downloads. The 1986-2002 Newsletter and the 1981- 1988 Indiana Waterways will be online soon.

Repository / Archives – Contact the society by way of the website.

Canal Society of New Jersey (CSNJ)

Name of publication – On The Level

Format / size – 8.5 by 11

Date of first issue – September 1969

Issues per year – 2/3

Publication History – The Towpath Post was the first newsletter from the Canal Society. Volume 1, #1 is dated September 1969. The last issue of The Towpath Post was the Spring/Summer 1977. The first issue of On the Level was Spring/Summer 1978.

Index available – No

Digital copies available – Some digital copies are available. These date from 2007 to the present.

Repository / Archives – By appointment only. Use the contact form on the website.

Canal Society of New York State (CSNYS)

Name of publication – Bottoming Out

Format / size – 8.5 by 11

Date of first issue – October 1956

Issues per year – 1/2

Publication History – In 2011, a history of the publication noted that the first issue of the Bottoming Out was dated October, 1956. At that time, the format was 5 by 7, and the first issue ran 8 pages. The name at that time was; Bottoming Out, An informal record of study and exploration by members of the Canal Society of New York State. In Issue #3, which adopted the title used today Bottoming Out, Useful and Interesting Notes Collected For the Members of The Canal Society of New York State. Unfortunately, the publication of the newsletter has taken place with little regularity. From 1956 to 1960, Bottoming Out was published on a fairly regular schedule. Some of the issues were treated as double issues, July 1957 was numbered 3 – 4, and July 1958 was 7 – 8, as were others up to 1965. Some years were entirely missed, as was 1961, 1963 and 1964. After issue 23 – 24 in 1965, the BO was not published until 1986. One issue was put out in 1986 and 1987, when the BO went back into hibernation. In 1993, the newsletter was brought back with issue #27 and it was published on a regular schedule up through issue #42 in 2001. No issues were published from 2002 until the Spring of 2004. At that time, the format was changed to a 8.5 by 11 size, and the familiar yellow cover was gone. Instead a glossy white paper was used to highlight newer advances in the printing and publishing field. Issues were printed during 2004 and 2005. No issues were published in 2006. Issue #46 came out in 2007 and the publication has maintained a fairly regular schedule since then.

Index available – No

Digital copies available – No, but the society plans to begin this service in the future.

Repository / Archives – The Samuel Center, 38 Rochester St., Port Byron, NY

Canal Society of Ohio (CSO)

Name of publications- Towpaths, Society Newsletter

Format / size- Towpaths is a 5 by 8 booklet, while the newsletter is 8.5 x 11.

Date of first issue- 1972

Issues per year- 2

Publication History- The Society prints both a newsletter and a journal. The newsletter carries recent news, society and trip information, board news and such, while the journal is more of a scholarly publication with in-depth research. Both are mailed to the membership at the same time. At what point they began this practice is not known as the Newsletters are not assigned a issue or volume number. The first issue in the ACS archives is from October 1985.

Towpaths first appeared as a mimeographed newsletter in August 1961. A total of eight mimeographed newsletters were issued up to November of 1962. Few of the issues were numbered or dated. The first offset printed eight-page bulletin appeared in January 1963. Publication has continued uninterrupted since. The issues of 1963, 1964, 1965 and Number One of 1966 are without volume number, identified only by issue number and year date. With issue Two, 1966, volume numbering was adopted and page numbering was carried through the year’s issues. The 1966 issues were designated Volume IV, recognizing the previous three years issuance of the bulletin. Towpaths has been expanded to twelve and occasionally to sixteen pages, as material available warranted.

The Society Newsletter, which is simply called the “Newsletter,” also includes information that shouldn’t be overlooked by the researcher.

Index available- Yes, 1963-2015 is available as a pdf file.

Digital copies available- No, although the newsletter, 2012-2015, can be found on the old CSO website by using the Wayback Machine.

Repository / Archives- The CSO website notes that they use the University of Akron as their repository. An online finding guide to all the CSO materials in the collection is available on the University’s website, The Towpaths issues that are available are between 1961 and 2011. This collection also lists a Table of Contents 1961-2003.

Other Information- An 50^th anniversary edition of Towpaths was printed in 2011 as a separate publication in a large 8.5 by 11 format.

Middlesex Canal Association (MCA)

Name of publication- Towpath Topics

Format / size- 5 by 8 booklet

Date of first issue- October 1963

Issues per year- 2

Publication History- The website notes that first issue of the Middlesex Canal Association newsletter was published in October 1963. Originally named Canal News, the first issue featured a contest to name the newsletter. A year later, the newsletter was renamed Towpath Topics. The number of issues per year has varied. In the years 1963 – 1982, typically 3 times per year; 1983 –2008, typically 2 times per year; 2009 — present, 3 times per year. The intent of publication timing has usually been to have the publication in readers hands two weeks prior to the beginning of the Winter, Spring and Fall meetings, canal section walks and full canal-length bike rides.

Index available- A Table of Contents is available online at the website, which lists the subject matter by issue. The page is searchable by using the “ctrl-F” feature and entering a search term.

Digital copies available- All issues are available as pdf downloads. Since 2019, the pdf’s graphics are offered in color or in black and white.

Repository / Archives- Middlesex Canal Association museum, North Billerica, Massachusetts. Contact robert@middlesexcanal.org

Pennsylvania Canal Society (PCS)

Name of publication – Canal Currents

Format / size – 8.5 by 11

Date of first issue – Winter 1968

Issues per year – 4

Publication History – The first issue of Canal Currents is labeled as Issue 3. Issues 1 and 2 were simple organizational newsletters titled Newsletter of the Pennsylvania Canal Society. The new name was introduced in Issue 3 and has remained so since. The issues were printed on glossy paper stock which gives great clarity to the images.

Index available – The Fall 1987, Issue 80, of Canal Currents has a subject, author and title index for all the issues 1- 79. The society is reportedly working to update this.

Digital copies available – No

Repository / Archives – The PCS uses the National Canal Museum in Easton as their archives. Wendi Blewett, museum collections manager 484-215-6235, Martha Capwell Fox, historian 610-923-3548. email: archives@delawareandlehigh.org

Canadian Canal Society

Name of publication- Canals Canada

Format / size- 8.5 by 11

Date of first issue- January 1983

Date of last issue- Spring 2017

Issues per year- 2

Publication History-The Canadian Canal Society was active between 1982 and 2017. Canals Canada was published twice a year, mostly in the spring and fall. Some years, only a single issue was published and the years of 2010 and 2011 were skipped entirely.

Index available- none available

Digital copies available- No, although digital copies will be on file at Brock University.

Repository / Archives- Brock University Library –archives@brocku.ca

Other Information- The Canadian Canal Society dissolved effective October 29, 2020.

Virginia Canals and Navigation Society (VC&NS)

Name of publication- The Tiller

Format / size- 8.5 by 11

Date of first issue- Spring 1980

Issues per year- 1

Publication History- The Tiller has been published on a varied schedule. From 1980 to 1989, there were 3 issues per year. Beginning in 1990, the journal was published quarterly until 2011. During this time period, some issues were printed as “double issues.” Beginning in 2013, the schedule was reduced to one issue per year.

Index available- Indexes available for 1980 – 1995

Digital copies available- No

Repository / Archives- 3806 S. Amherst Hwy, Madison Heights, VA 24572

In Conclusion

This is a listing of the larger statewide canal groups. There are also local and regional groups that should not be overlooked if you happen to be conducting a “deep dive” into a specific canal. The editor would be happy to add the information about any group that has published newsletters that might be of assistance to the canal researcher.

The Earl Giles Collection – The Speeceville Lock

Earl took these photos of the Speeceville lock in May of 1970. I had to look up Speeceville and I found it just south of the confluence of the Juniata and Susquehanna rivers. It’s not even marked on the map, but it is about half way between Dauphin and Clark Ferry. It is where you see the word Pennsylvania along the river. You could zoom by on Rt 22 and never realize that it was there.

Earl had made this copy of the lock. As you can see it is dated 1954.

In May 1970 the lock was is in fair condition.

I am not certain that this was the lock or if Earl was taking a photo of the rock wall. It is labeled as Speeceville.

I tried to find this lock on Google Maps but didn’t see it. However there is a fair amount of the old canal to be seen here are Speeceville along Towpath Road.

At Clark Ferry (or is it Clark’s) the Main Line canal crossed from the east to the west side of the river and crossed over (through?) Duncan Island then headed north up the west bank from there. The Juniata Division of the canal began at this point and continued to follow the Juniata River west. We have seen Earl’s photos from Amity Hall which is just upstream from this river confluence in prior posts.

Although the canal was abandoned and shown as a dashed blue line when this map was made, it does show the routes as they divided at the head of Duncan Island.

By the time Earl was taking photos the old covered bridge at Clark Ferry had been replaced, so the best he could do was to make copies. I am certain better copies can be found now days.

The Longest Covered Bridge in the World!

Looking west at the confluence of the two rivers. The bridge on the right crosses the Susquehanna and the bridge on the left crosses the Juniata. The Pennsylvania Main Line Canal can be seen in the foreground. Up bound boats would have crossed the Susquehanna River just upstream of here on the slackwater created by the dam and then headed north or west. The bit of land between the two bridges is Duncan Island.

If anyone knows if the old lock is still intact drop us a line.

Earl Giles Collection – The Packsaddle

Many of Earl’s slides are in groups of one or a few. The topic with the most slides was those of the Packsaddle. If you don’t know (I didn’t), the Packsaddle was a valley through the Chestnut Ridge cut by the Conemaugh River. It is located between Robinson / Bolivar to the east and Blairsville on the west.

A post by Coke Oven Mike on his Old Industry of Southwestern Pennsylvania blog tells us that the Packsaddle Gap is very isolated and only accessible by walking the along the railroad or by boat. Compare some of his images to those of Earl. The website of the Pittsburgh to Harrisburg Main Line Canal Greenway tells us that it is possible to see the remains of Lock 5 and 2 miles of revetment wall.

Aside from that, I don’t know much about these. These were all taken between 1968 and 1972.

This is a postcard that Earl had copied.

Maybe he compared the postcard to this view?

This was from the shore. It says from the dam. If Lock 5 was a guard lock, then it would make sense that there would be some sort of dam nearby.

It is difficult to see, but there is a bit of wall in the bank. Earl notes that this is the site of the dam and outlet.

This says lock at Packsaddle. No date, but early 1970s.

This slides says that the men were excavating at the Lockhouse. The men are not identified.

There are a few more like this showing various rocks and such.

This one is labeled canal in the Packsaddle and it is dated March 1968.

It is clear that Earl and his friends walked along the railroad rather then boating in.

If you have walked into the Packsaddle and have info to share, leave us a comment.

Earl Giles Collection- Ardenheim

I don’t have much to add to these four photos of the lock(s?) at Ardenheim. Ardenheim is just east of Huntingdon where the Raystown branch of the Juniata River joins with the main branch of the river.

The shot from summer is dated June 1971.

These are all dated April 1969. It almost looks like two locks. This one is not nearly as deep as the second one.

I would say that these two shots are of the same lock.

That’s all I got. The oldest topo map of this area was from 1922 and there is nothing on the web. If you know more, leave a comment.

Earl Giles Collection- Amity Hall Lock and Aqueduct Piers

I have passed by this place many times as I traveled along Route 15 but never knew it was there until I scanned these slides. Amity Hall is/was just northwest of the confluence of the Juniata and Susquehanna rivers. It appears as Aqueduct in this 1907 topo map. You can see the dashed blue line of the old canal and where it crossed the Juniata on the aqueduct, hence the name.

A 1940s guide to the state says this; In Amity Hall, the State’s east-west and north-south canal systems intersected here, and the area is littered with canal remains. A short distance northwest of the junction are the stone piers of the old Pennsylvania Canal Aqueduct, which carried the Susquehanna Canal across the Juniata. The wooden trough of the aqueduct has long rotted away. Near by is a well-preserved lock.

I tried looking up the origin of the name Amity Hall and found this video of an old tavern/inn. The 1940s history says; The Amity Hall Inn (open May-Oct), built about 1810, is a two-and-a-half-story, red brick building, with gabled roof and dormer windows; the inn is furnished with many old household articles and old prints. A dormitory and lunch room here is much patronized by freight truck drives, and it is not uncommon to see from 50 to 100 trucks parked here at one time.

These slides were all dated April 1969. I don’t know if Earl took them or traded for them. You will see later that he did have a interest with the bridge at Clark’s Ferry, so I like to think that he might have been visiting and took these himself.

From Google Maps it looks like the lock and piers are still intact. Today the area is marked by the Amity Hall public boat launch.

Earl Giles Collection – Plane 8 on the APRR

I don’t know much about Plane 8 aside from what I see in these images from May of 1970. They were all labeled “Foundations at Plane 8.” The last image is labeled, “bridge at foot of Plane 8.”

From a site called Wikimapia it shows that the bottom of the plane was at what was known as Muleshoe Curve. The Muleshoe was a relative of the more famous Horseshoe Curve, built in the 1850s and closed in 1981. The Muleshoe and the alignment of the portage railroad can be seen on this 1902 map of the Ebensburg quadrant topo map.

The National Park Service has a lengthy report on-line about the APRR. You can download it here. The report is from 1973 so I wonder if these excavations were part of the study.

If any of this remains intact, let me know. There is a trail along the old railroad in this area and I am surprised not to find more on-line concerning it.

Earl Giles Collection- More of Plane 6 on the APRR

In addition photos of the engine house and Lemon House at Plane 6, the Earl Giles collection has some showing the incline in that late 1960s period.

Many of the slides were labeled and with the trail off to the side, I am reasonably certain that this is Plane 6. It looks as if it had been cleared and then regrew a bit. Honestly today it doesn’t look too much different. I took this on my visit last October 2021. I was remarking that it would benefit from a trim with a good boom mounted mower.

There are a couple others in the collection that say they are Plane 6.

I noticed in my own shots that it can be difficult to tell if you are looking uphill of down. Also in the collection was this shot showing a man measuring the distance between the sleepers along the plane.

This was dated February 1968, so it is possible that someone exposed the stones and then it all regrew or maybe they decided to re-bury them all. The first image in this post seems to capture that regrowth.

If you have been to the park, you know that at the bottom of the plane is the skew bridge. What is surprising is that the only pictures Earl had of the bridge were of older photos like this postcard image. That mark on the left edge seems to indicate that it was taken from some collection.

The skew bridge is where the old highway passed over the railroad. It was constructed on an angle (or skew) which is a feat of engineering on its own. Here is the skew bridge today.

Old Route 22 (a four lane highway) splits just uphill and goes around the bridge site. At the split is this monument to the Allegheny Portage Railroad.

And here is a view looking up the incline from the bridge. The Lemon House sits at the top of the hill/plane and the National Park Visitor’s Center is off to the right, a walk of about a half mile.

Next time it is onto Plane 8.

Earl Giles Collection- Plane 6 on the Allegheny Portage Railroad

The Alleghney Portage Railroad used 10 inclined planes to lift the canal boats up and over the mountains that divided the eastern section of the Pennsylvania Main Line Canal from the western section. Today you can visit Plane 6, which was at the summit or highest level of railroad, at the Allegheny Portage RR National Historic Site.

In the Earl Giles collection there are slides showing excavation work on the engine house in 1968 and ’69. The NPS website only says that; “… and even the National Park Service excavations of the 1970s were done before an interest in evaluating the grounds was voiced.” So it is curious as to what is happening here and who was in charge. These images are dated July 1968. They show the first excavations of the engine house.

The sad thing is that even though we have these images, we don’t have names of the people.

Today the engine house excavation and display are covered with this large building.

The track sleeper stones were also uncovered in 1968.

And here is what it looks like when we visited the site in the fall of 2021.

We will see more of Plane 6 in the next post.

The Earl Giles Collection – The Staple Bend Tunnel

A little background- I saw a post on one of the canal-related social media sites asking if someone was willing to digitize a few hundred slides that the poster had recently purchased. I enjoy the sense of discovery that comes with scanning these old slides as these personal collections can contain some real treasures. Ray Hall, who was the new owner of the slides, offered to donate them to the ACS in return for a copy of the digital files. A box of slides arrived in a few days and we were off to the scanner!

Ray was able to provide me with the last name of the seller, a Mr. Giles, and he said that they had been taken by a canal/local historian from the Johnstown (PA) area. With this information, it was fairly easy to find that the collection belonged to Earl Giles. I found this article in The Daily News (Johnstown, PA) of July 8, 1968.

This article helped immensely as I was noticing that many of the slides had been labelled as ‘duplicate’ since Earl liked to trade. So now I knew that all the images were not his alone. However, the slides do point to Earl’s interests and that was the western division of the Pennsylvania Main Line Canal with an especial interest in the Pack Saddle region along the Conemaugh River and the Allegheny Portage Railroad. Most of the slides dated from the late 1960s and early ’70s. All the 357 slides were scanned at 2400 dpi as tiff files. When that was done, I went back through and used GIMP to reduce the slides to 400 dpi Jpeg files.

The images were a mix of Earl’s original images taken out on his explorations and slides that he traded for showing the same. About half of the slides were his photographs of older photographs, postcards, and maps. So I sorted out what I thought was interesting and will share them here.

We will start with some images of the Staple Bend Tunnel (constructed 1831-1833) which is claimed to be the first railroad tunnel dug in the United States. (There were two canal tunnels dug prior.) The tunnel is located near Mineral Point, about 5 miles slightly northeast of Johnstown. To reach the tunnel you need to park and walk or ride a bike two miles along the old railroad bed (now a stone-dust path). This site was added to the Allegheny Portage Railroad National Sites in 2001.

When Earl and his fellow explorers visited it in the late 1960s it was certainly a bit more rugged a walk.

This is labeled as the east portal. Apparently much of the stonework had been removed and used elsewhere by 1907.

This is an old postcard that might be the same as the one above showing the missing stone-work.

The planes were numbered from west to east along the APRR and the 901-foot-long tunnel sat at the head of Plane 1. The image below shows one of the explorers sitting on top of the tunnel portal looking west along Plane 1 and the Conemaugh River valley.

It would take ten planes to lift the canal boats over the mountains and in the next post, we will see the work at Plane 6.