View source for Delaware and Hudson Canal

{{Short description|Former canal in New York and Pennsylvania, United States}}
{{Distinguish|Delaware and Raritan Canal}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}
{{Infobox canal
 | name                    = Delaware and Hudson Canal
 | image                   = Delaware and Hudson Canal near Summitville, NY.jpg
 | image_size              = 300px
 | image_caption           = A remaining section of the canal in [[Sullivan County, New York|Sullivan County, NY]], used as a [[linear park]]
 | original_owner          = Delaware and Hudson Canal Company
 | engineer                =
 | other_engineer          =
 | date_began              = 1825
 | date_use                = {{Start date|1828}}
 | date_completed          =
 | date_extended           =
 | date_closed             = 1902
 | date_restored           =
 | len_ft                  =
 | len_in                  =
 | original_boat_length_ft =
 | original_boat_length_in =
 | len_note                =
 | beam_ft                 =
 | beam_in                 =
 | original_beam_ft        =
 | original_beam_in        =
 | beam_note               =
 | start_point             = [[Honesdale, Pennsylvania|Honesdale]], [[Pennsylvania|PA]]
 | original_start          =
 | start_note              =
 | end_point               = [[Kingston, New York|Kingston]], [[New York (state)|NY]]
 | original_end            =
 | end_note                =
 | branch                  =
 | branch_of               =
 | connects_to             =
 | locks                   = 108
 | original_num_locks      =
 | lock_note               =
 | length_mi               = 108
 | original_length_mi      =
 | length_note             =
 | elev_ft                 = 1075
 | elev_note               =
 | status                  = Closed, partially infilled
 | navigation_authority    =
 {{Infobox NRHP
  | embed                = yes
  | name                 = Delaware and Hudson Canal
  | nrhp_type            = nhl
  | designated_nrhp_type = November 24, 1968<ref name="nhlsum">{{cite web|url=http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=804&ResourceType=Structure|title=Delaware and Hudson Canal|date=2007-09-11|work=National Historic Landmark summary listing|publisher=National Park Service|access-date=2007-09-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121009143839/http://tps.cr.nps.gov/nhl/detail.cfm?ResourceId=804&ResourceType=Structure|archive-date=2012-10-09|url-status=dead}}</ref>
  | added                = November 24, 1968<ref name=nris/>
  | refnum               = 68000051<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2010a}}</ref>
 }}
}}
The '''Delaware and Hudson Canal''' was the first venture of the [[Delaware and Hudson Canal Company]], which would later build the [[Delaware and Hudson Railway]]. Between 1828 and 1899, the canal's [[barge]]s carried [[anthracite|anthracite coal]] from the mines of [[northeastern Pennsylvania]] to the [[Hudson River]] and then to market in [[New York City]].

Construction of the canal involved some major feats of [[civil engineering]],{{such as?|date=June 2025}} and resulted in the development of some new technologies, particularly in [[rail transport]]. Its operation stimulated the city's growth and encouraged settlement in the sparsely populated region. Unlike many other canals of that era, the canal remained a profitable private operation for most of its existence.

The canal was declared a [[National Historic Landmark]] in 1968.<ref name="nhlsum"/>

The canal was abandoned during the early 20th century, and much of it was subsequently drained and filled. Some fragments remain in New York and Pennsylvania.

==History==

===Before the canal===
During the early 19th century, [[Philadelphia]] businessman William Wurts often would leave his affairs for weeks at a time to explore the then-sparsely populated [[Northeastern Pennsylvania|northeastern]] part of Pennsylvania. He began noticing, mapping, and researching blackish rock outcroppings, becoming the first explorer of the [[anthracite]] fields that have since become known as the [[Coal Region]]. He believed they could be a valuable energy source, and brought samples back to Philadelphia for testing.<ref name="1905 history">{{cite book|first=Noble|last=Whitford|title=History of the Canal System of the State of New York|year=1905|url=http://www.history.rochester.edu/canal/bib/whitford/1906/Chap20.html|access-date=2007-10-22|chapter=Chapter XX: The Delaware and Hudson Canal.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070807123649/http://www.history.rochester.edu/canal/bib/whitford/1906/Chap20.html|archive-date=2007-08-07|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[File:Coal anthracite.jpg|200px|thumb|Anthracite coal]]

Eventually, he convinced his brothers [[Charles Stewart Wurts|Charles]] and Maurice to come along with him and see for themselves. Starting in 1812, they began buying and mining large tracts of inexpensive land. They were able to extract several tons of anthracite at a time, but lost most of what they tried to bring back to Philadelphia due to the treacherous waterways that were the main method of transportation in the interior. While the southern reaches of the Coal Region were already beginning to supply Philadelphia, they realized that the areas they had been exploring and mining were well-positioned to deliver coal to [[New York City]], which had experienced an energy shortage after the [[War of 1812]], when restrictions were placed on the import of British coal. Inspired by the new and successful [[Erie Canal]], they conceptualized a canal of their own from Pennsylvania to New York, through the narrow valley between the [[Shawangunk Ridge]] and the [[Catskill Mountains]], to the [[Hudson River]] near [[Kingston, New York|Kingston]], a route followed by the [[Old Mine Road]], America's first long-distance transportation route.<ref name="1905 history" />

{{Imageframe|width=300|content=[[File:D&H Canal thumbnail.png|300px|link=Media:Delaware and Hudson Canal Map.png]]|caption=D&H Canal map, showing feeder railroads and competition, circa 1865|link=Media:Delaware and Hudson Canal Map.png|linkoverride={{magnify icon|link=Media:Delaware and Hudson Canal Map.png}}}}

After several years of lobbying by the Wurtses, the '''Delaware and Hudson Canal Company''' was chartered by separate laws in the state of [[New York (state)|New York]] and commonwealth of [[Pennsylvania]] in 1823, allowing William Wurts and his brother Maurice to construct the Delaware and Hudson Canal. The New York law, passed April 23, 1823, incorporated "The President, Managers and Company of the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company", and the Pennsylvania law, passed March 13 of the same year, authorized the company "To Improve the Navigation of the [[Lackawaxen River]]". The company hired [[Benjamin Wright (civil engineer)|Benjamin Wright]], who had engineered the Erie Canal, and his assistant [[John B. Jervis]] to survey and plan a route. A primary challenge was the {{convert|600|ft|m|adj=on}} elevation difference between the [[Delaware River]] at Lackawaxen and the Hudson at [[Rondout, New York|Rondout]]. Wright's initial estimated cost of $1.2 million was later revised to $1.6 million (in 1825 dollars).<ref name="1905 history" />

To attract investment, the brothers arranged for a demonstration of anthracite at a [[Wall Street]] [[coffeehouse]] in January 1825. The reaction was enthusiastic, and the stock oversubscribed within hours.

===Construction===
Ground was first broken on July 13, 1825. After three years of labor by 2,500 men, the canal was opened to navigation in October 1828. It began at the [[Rondout Creek]] at an area known later as [[Creeklocks, New York|Creeklocks]], between Rondout (at the creek's outlet to the [[Hudson River]]) and [[Rosendale, New York|Rosendale]]. From there, it proceeded southwest alongside Rondout Creek in the direction upstream to [[Ellenville, New York|Ellenville]], continuing through the valley of the [[Sandburg Creek]], [[Homowack Kill]], [[Basha Kill]] and down the valley of the [[Neversink River]] to [[Port Jervis, New York|Port Jervis]] on the [[Delaware River]]. At that point, the canal ran northwest on the New York side of the Delaware River, crossing the river into Pennsylvania at [[Lackawaxen, Pennsylvania|Lackawaxen]] and running along the north bank of the [[Lackawaxen River]] to [[Honesdale, Pennsylvania|Honesdale]].<ref name="1905 history" />

To get the [[anthracite]] from the Wurts' mine in the [[Moosic Mountains]] near [[Carbondale, Pennsylvania|Carbondale]] to the canal at Honesdale, the canal company built the [[Delaware and Hudson Gravity Railroad]]. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania authorized its construction on April 8, 1826. On August 8, 1829, the D&H's first [[locomotive]], the ''[[Stourbridge Lion]]'', made history as the first locomotive to run on rails in the United States.

===Success and decline===
[[File:Delaware and Hudson Canal Honesdale basin.jpg|thumb|Barges awaiting coal loads in the basin at Honesdale]]

[[File:LOSSING(1876) p491 COAL & IRON EXCHANGE, DELAWARE & HUDSON CANAL COMPANY.jpg|thumb|Delaware and Hudson Canal Company building as seen in 1876. It was on the southeast corner of Cortlandt and Church Streets in Manhattan. The building was commonly called "The Coal and Iron Exchange".]]

Business developed rapidly as the Wurtses had anticipated, and in 1832 the canal carried 90,000 tons (81,000 tonnes) of coal and three million [[board foot|board-feet]] (7,080 m³) of [[lumber]]. The company invested the profits in improving the canal, making it deeper so larger barges could be used.<ref name="1905 history" />

In 1850, the Pennsylvania Coal Company constructed its own [[gravity railroad]] from the coal fields to the port at [[Hawley, PA|Hawley]] and the canal enjoyed increased traffic, carrying more than 300,000 tons of PCC coal in the first season. However, the relationship between the two companies deteriorated after the canal attempted to increase tolls with the argument that canal improvements had reduced costs for the PCC. The dispute was decided by court decision in 1863, but by that time the [[Erie Railroad]] constructed its extension to Hawley and the PCC transferred its shipments to the railroad.<ref name="PCC">{{cite book|first=Philip|last=Roth|title=Of Pulleys and Ropes and Gear|year=1997|publisher=Wayne County Historical Society|location=Honesdale, PA|isbn=0-9659540-0-5|pages=41–44}}</ref>

The D&H was also developing railroads, a technology that was continuing to improve and [[disruptive technology|supplant]] canal transportation at the time, to extend its access to other Northeastern markets. The D&H also extended its gravity railroad from Carbondale deeper into the coal fields and expanded its capacity. By the time Maurice Wurts died in 1854, the company was reporting [[Profit (accounting)|profits]] of 10-24% annually and had completely paid its original debt to both states.<ref name="1905 history" />

The completion of the [[Erie Railroad]] through the Delaware Valley in 1848 and its branch to [[Hawley, PA|Hawley]] in 1863 began to effect the canal's business adversely, although it continued to be successful through the 1870s and '80s. During that time canals began to be perceived as quaint relics of pre-industrial times and began yielding to railroads across the country. In 1898, the Delaware and Hudson finally joined them, carrying its last loads from Honesdale to Kingston, as railroads could now carry coal more directly to the city, across New Jersey rather than via Kingston. The next year the company eliminated the word "Canal" from its name, the states authorizing it to abandon the canal if it deemed it suitable and concentrate on its railroad interests, which it did.<ref name="1905 history" />

===Post-closure===

After the end of the 1898 season, the company opened all the [[waste weir]]s and drained the canal. Catskill railroad magnate Samuel Coykendall purchased the canal the next summer, reportedly to benefit the [[Ramapo Water Company]] for use as a [[water supply]] resource<ref name="Ramapo purchase">{{cite news|title=Ramapo's Big Purchase|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1899/08/26/118939222.pdf|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=August 26, 1899|access-date=2007-10-23 | format=PDF}}</ref> However, that never happened. Instead, Coykendall used the northernmost section, from Rosendale to Rondout, to transport [[Rosendale cement]] and other general merchandise to the Hudson River until abandoning that business in 1904.<ref name="Adams">{{cite book|first=Arthur|last=Adams|title=The Hudson Through the Years|url=http://academic2.marist.edu/foy/esopus/essays/delaware%20and%20hudson%20canal.htm|year=1996|publisher=[[Fordham University Press]]|location=New York, NY|access-date=2007-10-23|isbn=0-8232-1677-2|pages=73–78}}</ref> The canal was never used again.

As the 20th century began, the company used some of the canal [[Right-of-way (transportation)|right-of-way]] for its expanding railroad operations; some of the rest was sold to various private companies, mainly other, smaller railroads.<ref name="1905 history" /> Some communities along the route also filled it in to expand their own neighborhoods, or for safety reasons as when a [[Port Jervis, New York|Port Jervis]] man supposedly drowned in it in 1900.<ref name="NYT 2002 canal article">{{cite news|first=David|last=Kirby|title=A Main Artery of the 1800s|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C01EED7103DF936A1575BC0A9649C8B63|newspaper=The New York Times|date=2002-08-25|access-date=2007-10-23|quote=Much of the D & H in Port Jervis was filled in around 1900, after a drunken city elder supposedly toppled in and drowned.}}</ref>

During the early 21st century residents of the town of [[Deerpark, New York|Deerpark]], north of Port Jervis, complained that the canal had been leaking water and causing flooding in the neighborhoods near [[Cuddebackville, New York|Cuddebackville]] in recent years. Orange County, which maintains it in that area, met with town officials and local residents to discuss possible solutions.<ref name="Leaking canal story">{{cite news|last=Sacco|first=Stephen|title=Officials to discuss possible solutions for crumbling condition of D&H canal|url=http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090529/NEWS/90528042/-1/NEWS|publisher=[[Ottaway Community Newspapers]]|work=[[Times-Herald Record]]|date=May 29, 2009|access-date=May 29, 2009}}</ref>

===Preservation as historic site===
[[File:Delaware and Hudson Canal Museum.jpg|thumb|The Delaware and Hudson Canal Museum in [[High Falls, New York]]]]

Some of the ruins of the canal and its associated structures remain. The Delaware & Hudson Canal Historical Society was formed in 1967;<ref name="D&H canal historical society">{{cite web|title=D & H Canal Historical Society, High Falls, NY|url=http://www.canalmuseum.org|access-date=2007-10-23}}. The Society's D&H Canal Museum and Five Lock's Walk (a National Historic Landmark) operate from May through October. Visitors can view a working lock model and retrace the steps of the historic "canawlers" on the recently restored 1/2 mile towpath trail which features five stone locks and lock tender's cottages. }</ref> [[Delaware and Hudson Canal Museum|its museum]] has an extensive education program and hosts hundreds of area students each season. The Neversink Valley Area Museum was formed in Orange County New York in 1968 and the [[National Park Service]] recognized the canal site in Orange County as a [[National Historic Landmark]].<ref name="nhlsum" /> In 1969, New York's [[Sullivan County, New York|Sullivan County]] bought a {{convert|4|acre|m2|adj=on}} portion to develop as a park.<ref name="Sullivan County linear park">{{cite web|title=Delaware & Hudson Canal Linear Park|url=http://www.co.sullivan.ny.us/orgMain.asp?storyid=195&orgid=267|access-date=2007-10-24}}</ref> Many other buildings and sites associated with the canal have been added to the [[National Register of Historic Places]] and state and local landmark lists.

==Canal==
[[File:Child leading mules on D & H canal.jpg|thumb|Child leading mules on the canal]]

The finished canal ran {{convert|108|mi|km}}, from Honesdale to Kingston (counting the tidewater portions of the Rondout where the canal joined the creek at [[Eddyville, New York|Eddyville]]). Its 108 [[Lock (water transport)|locks]] took it over elevation changes totaling {{convert|1,075|ft|m}}, more than the Erie Canal's {{convert|675|ft|m}}.<ref>{{cite book|first=Thomas|last=Rinaldi|title=Hudson Valley Ruins: Forgotten Landmarks of an American Landscape|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8bJ6ai_KRL0C&pg=PA124&dq=%22Delaware+and+Hudson+Canal%22|access-date=2007-10-23|year=2006|publisher=[[University Press of New England]]|location=[[Lebanon, New Hampshire]]|isbn=1-58465-598-4|page=125 |quote=The D & H accomplished a greater change in elevation — 1,075 feet versus the Erie's 675 ..."}}</ref> The channel was {{convert|4|ft|cm|spell=in}} deep (eventually increased to {{convert|6|ft|m|spell=in}}) by {{convert|32|ft|m}} wide. It was crossed by 137 bridges and had 26 dams, basins and [[reservoir (water)|reservoirs]].<ref name="Canalhistory">{{cite web|title=The D & H Canal: An Engineering and Entrepreneurial Challenge  |url=http://www.canalmuseum.org/history.htm |website=D & H Canal Historical Society |date=April 11, 2007 |access-date=2007-10-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929070550/http://www.canalmuseum.org/history.htm |archive-date=2007-09-29 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Originally it crossed the four rivers along its course — the Lackawaxen, Delaware, [[Neversink River|Neversink]] and Rondout Creek — via slackwater dams. Aqueducts were built over the rivers to replace them by [[John Roebling]] in the 1840s, eliminating a few days from canal travel time and reducing accidents that were occurring at the Delaware crossing with loggers rafting their harvest downstream.

Barges were pulled by [[mule]]s along the adjacent [[towpath]], a power source employed even after the development of [[steam engine]]s, since the bow wave from a faster steamboat would have damaged the channel.<ref name="Adams" /> [[Child labor|Children were often hired]] to lead the mules at first; in the canal's later years grown men were employed. They had to walk {{convert|15|–|20|mi|km}} a day, pump out the barges and tend the animals. For this they were paid about $3 a month.<ref name="Osterberg">{{cite book|first=Matthew|last=Osterberg|title=The Delaware & Hudson Canal and the Gravity Railroad |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OKl_mv6xD9sC&pg=PA5&dq=%22Delaware+and+Hudson+Canal%22#PPA72,M1 |access-date=2007-10-23|year=2002|publisher=[[Arcadia Publishing]]|location=[[Mount Pleasant, South Carolina]]|isbn=0-7385-1087-4|page=72}}</ref>

The canal was divided into three sections for operational purposes: the Lackawaxen, from Honesdale to the river Delaware; the Delaware, along the river from there to Port Jervis; and the Neversink, from Port Jervis to Rondout (now part of the city of Kingston) near the junction of Rondout Creek with the Hudson River. A voyage along its length took, initially, a week. It was closed on Sundays,<ref name="Adams" /> and would suspend operations each winter when the canal froze or was likely to do so.

Its primary business was the transport of coal and lumber from the interior to the river Hudson, where it could be floated downstream to New York by river. There was little traffic to Pennsylvania other than empty barges. The company tried offering passenger service for a while, and [[Washington Irving]], a friend of Hone's, made the trip during the 1840s, but it was ultimately ended as unprofitable.

==Legacy==
[[File:Robinson Canal Scene.jpg|thumb|''Canal Scene'', one of a series of paintings of the Delaware and Hudson Canal at Port Ben that [[Theodore Robinson]] painted in 1893.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tfaoi.com/aa/2aa/2aa562a.htm|title=Theodore Robinson: Pioneer of American Impressionism|first=D. Scott|last=Atkinson|date=March 2000|website=Traditional Fine Arts Organization}}</ref>]]

Besides its historical firsts, the canal's most significant effect was to help stimulate the growth of New York City along with the other anthracite canals. Fueled by the cheap and plentiful coal barged along the canal and the river Hudson, the city was able to develop and industrialize rapidly. The company's first president, [[Philip Hone]], served a term as [[Mayor of New York City|the city's mayor]] during the canal's construction. Later, John Roebling's experience building the canal served him well in designing the [[Brooklyn Bridge]].

On the Pennsylvania end, the interior anthracite regions were able to grow and develop from the rough [[wilderness]] they had been when William Wurts traveled them and mapped the coal deposits. The viability of its anthracite encouraged selling to other markets as well, sustaining the region economically well into the 20th century.

Along its route, the canal created small communities at some of its stops. Some were named for canal executives. Honesdale was named for [[Philip Hone]], the company's first president. The village of Peenpack, New York, renamed itself Port Jervis after the engineer soon after [[municipal incorporation|incorporating]] in 1853. Further north, the Wurtses are remembered by [[Wurtsboro, New York]]. A number of other New York communities with "port" in their name, such as [[Phillipsport, New York|Phillipsport]], [[Port Orange, New York|Port Orange]], Port Benjamin and Port Jackson (now [[Accord, New York|Accord]]) indicate their origins as canal towns. [[Summitville, New York|Summitville]] is named for its being the highest easterly point along the canal route.

As automobiles began to replace the transportation function of the railroads, which had once done the same to the canal, the general route of the canal was used as a highway route. Routes [[U.S. Route 6 in Pennsylvania|US 6]] and [[Pennsylvania Route 590|PA 590]] follow part of the route between Honesdale and [[Hawley, Pennsylvania|Hawley]], with 590 running along the towpath<ref name="NYT 2002 canal article" /> and now-dry bed as it continues east along the Lackawaxen River. The [[U.S. Route 209 in New York|New York section]] of [[U.S. Route 209|US 209]] links the same communities in that state as the canal did, and intersects or is closely parallel to its remnants in several areas. Within towns, Canal Street follows the route in Port Jervis, as does Towpath Road in [[Ellenville, New York|Ellenville]] and the [[Wawarsing, New York|Town of Wawarsing]].

The canal resulted in improvements in other technologies as well. The [[Rosendale cement]] discovered while [[Earthworks (engineering)|excavating]] the canal bed near [[Rosendale Village, New York|that town]] in 1825 would not only provide the canal itself with a cheap building material but created [[Snyder Estate Natural Cement Historic District|an industry that sustained the region]] for some time.{{sfnp|Rinaldi|2006|p=129}}

==The canal now==

After its designation as a National Historic Landmark, interest increased for [[historic preservation|preserving]] what remained of the canal during the late 1960s. The canal, its infrastructure and associated buildings survive in many areas along its length.

===Pennsylvania===
[[File:Roebling's Delaware Aqueduct Side View 3000px.jpg|thumb|Roebling's Delaware Aqueduct, still in use]]

* '''Honesdale''': The terminal basin site has a state historical marker, and traces of the gravity railroad route can still be seen. Some stretches of the bed are visible along Routes 6 and 590 as they approach town from the south.
* '''Lower Lackawaxen valley''': Route 590 follows the bed and towpath in some areas, and Towpath Road follows the route in [[Pike County, Pennsylvania|Pike County]]'s [[Lackawaxen Township, Pennsylvania|Lackawaxen Township]].
* '''[[Lackawaxen, Pennsylvania|Lackawaxen]]''' and '''[[Barryville, New York]]''': [[Roebling's Delaware Aqueduct]], the only one of the four on the canal still in use and a [[National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark]] as the oldest wire [[suspension bridge]] in the United States, was restored by the [[National Park Service]] and still carries automobiles over the Delaware River between the two states. Just north of the bridge, a [[Delaware and Hudson Canal Company Office|former company office]] has been [[adaptive reuse|converted]] into a [[bed and breakfast]].

===New York===
[[File:D&H Canal Neversink Aqueduct abutment.jpg|thumb|Aqueduct abutment on Neversink near Cuddebackville]]
[[File:D&H Canal lock at High Falls, NY.jpg|thumb|Lock No. 16 at High Falls]]

* '''[[Port Jervis]]''': A portion of the old towpath near Park Avenue ([[New York State Route 42|NY 42]]/[[New York State Route 97|97]]) on the north end of the city has been paved and is used as a city park. Canal Street is the former bed, now filled. [[Fort Decker]], the oldest building in the city, was used to house canal workers during construction.
* '''[[Cuddebackville, New York|Cuddebackville]]''': [[Orange County, New York|Orange County]] has developed a county park along the Neversink River, just south of [[Hamilton Bicentennial Elementary School]] off Route 209. The footings of Roebling's aqueduct still stand, and a portion of the bed and towpath persist in the adjacent woods. The Neversink Valley Museum, also located in the park, has some exhibits related to the canal.<ref name="Orange County park">{{Cite web|title=D&H Canal Park|url=http://www.orangecountygov.com/orgmain.asp?storyID=2708&orgID=212&storytypeID=1&sid|website=Orange County Department of Parks, Recreation and Conservation|access-date=2007-10-24|archive-url=https://archive.today/20070509002811/http://www.orangecountygov.com/orgmain.asp?storyID=2708&orgID=212&storytypeID=1&sid|archive-date=2007-05-09|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* '''[[Sullivan County, New York|Sullivan County]]''': maintains the largest remaining fragment of the canal, some of which is still wet, as the Delaware and Hudson Canal [[Linear Park]]. Hiking, [[cross-country skiing]] and jogging, bicycling and [[angling|fishing]] are permitted along the {{convert|3.5|mile|adj=on}}, {{convert|45|acre|adj=on}} section near Summitville, north of Wurtsboro in the [[Mamakating, New York|Town of Mamakating]]. Much of the land is beginning to return to its natural state due to the long years since the canal was abandoned. Some locks and other structures can be found from three different access points along US Route 209. The county park <ref name="Sullivan County linear park"/> provides a seasonal interpretive facility at the northerly Bova Road access.
* '''[[Woodridge, New York|Woodridge]]''': [[Silver Lake Dam]], some distance from the canal mainline, was built during the 1840s expansion to provide a [[Silver Lake (Woodridge, New York)|reliable reservoir]] for the summit section of the canal.
* '''Ellenville''': Towpath Road follows the old route from Route 209 south of the village to Canal Street ([[New York State Route 52|NY 52]]) within it, and a wet section of the bed remains just north of Canal Street in the woods adjacent to Berme Road just opposite the village's firehouse.
* '''[[Napanoch, New York|Napanoch]]''': A dry section of bed is located between [[Eastern Correctional Facility]] and the Rondout Creek, right next to the old [[Ontario and Western Railroad Passenger Station|Ontario and Western railroad station]].
* '''[[High Falls, New York|High Falls]]''': Several old locks are located here, near the site of the last of Roebling's aqueducts, as well as the canal museum. The [[High Falls Historic District|downtown area]] was largely developed as a result of the canal.
* '''[[Rosendale, New York|Rosendale]]''' The empty bed of the canal runs parallel to [[New York State Route 213|NY 213]] between its crossing of the Rondout and [[Rosendale Village, New York|Rosendale Village]].
* '''Creeklocks''': The northernmost lock still exists, as does the final section before the canal flowed into the Rondout Creek.
* '''Rondout''': The former port of [[Rondout, New York|Rondout]], the north end of the barges' route, has been recognized as the [[Rondout-West Strand Historic District]] and revitalized, still in use as a waterfront and a draw for visitors to the city.
The area is now part of the city of Kingston.

==See also==
{{Portal|Engineering|Hudson Valley|National Register of Historic Places|Pennsylvania}}
* [[Morris Canal]]
* [[Delaware and Raritan Canal]]
* [[Delaware and Hudson Canal Gravity Railroad Shops]]
* [[List of canals in New York]]
* [[List of canals in the United States]]
* [[List of National Historic Landmarks in Pennsylvania]]
* [[List of National Historic Landmarks in New York]]
* [[National Register of Historic Places listings in Pike County, Pennsylvania]]
* [[National Register of Historic Places listings in Wayne County, Pennsylvania]]
* [[National Register of Historic Places listings in Orange County, New York]]
* [[National Register of Historic Places listings in Sullivan County, New York]]
* [[National Register of Historic Places listings in Ulster County, New York]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
* [https://archive.org/details/economichistory01jonegoog <!-- quote=tide-water coal. --> Jones, Chester Lloyd. ''The Economic History of the Anthracite-tidewater Canals'', Chap. IV, "The Delaware and Hudson Canal"]

==External links==
{{Attached KML|display=title}}

{{Commons category}}
* [http://www.neversinkmuseum.org Neversink Valley Area Museum], located in Cuddebackville at canal park
* [http://www.co.sullivan.ny.us/orgMain.asp?storyid=195&orgid=267 Delaware and Hudson Linear Park], interpretive center in Summitville.
* [https://archive.today/20070509002811/http://www.orangecountygov.com/orgmain.asp?storyID=2708&orgID=212&storytypeID=1&sid D&H Canal Park]
* [http://rutlandtrail.org/gmap.cgi?delaware-n-hudson.ny.canal Route of the D&H Canal]
* {{HAER |survey=PA-1 |id=pa1234 |title=Delaware & Hudson Canal, Delaware Aqueduct, spanning Delaware River at Lackawaxen, Pike County, PA |photos=56 |color=1 |dwgs=8 |data=16 |cap=3}}
* {{HAER |survey=NY-205 |id=ny1611 |title=Delaware & Hudson Canal, Delaware Aqueduct Toll House, Minisink Ford, Sullivan County, NY |photos=10 |dwgs=3 |cap=1 |link=no}}
* {{HAER |survey=NY-262 |id=ny1692 |title=Delaware & Hudson Canal, Survey of Locks 70-72, Downstream from Delaware Aqueduct between Delaware River & Route 97, Minisink Ford, Sullivan County, NY |dwgs=1 |link=no}}
* {{HABS |survey=NY-4383 |id=ny0803 |title=De Motte House, Delaware & Hudson Canal, High Falls, Ulster County, NY |photos=1}}
* [http://findingaids.hagley.org/xtf/view?docId=ead/1982.xml Wurts family papers] at [[Hagley Museum and Library]] offer an opportunity to examine in detail the early history of the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company

{{National Register of Historic Places in New York}}
{{National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania}}
{{Hudson River}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Delaware And Hudson Canal}}
[[Category:Delaware and Hudson Canal|*]]
[[Category:Canals in New York (state)]]
[[Category:Canals in Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Canals on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Canals on the National Register of Historic Places in New York (state)]]
[[Category:National Historic Landmarks in New York (state)]]
[[Category:National Historic Landmarks in Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:History of Ulster County, New York]]
[[Category:Transportation buildings and structures in Sullivan County, New York]]
[[Category:Transportation buildings and structures in Pike County, Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:History of Orange County, New York]]
[[Category:Hudson River]]
[[Category:1825 establishments in the United States]]
[[Category:1899 disestablishments]]
[[Category:Historic American Engineering Record in New York (state)]]
[[Category:Historic American Engineering Record in Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Transportation buildings and structures in Ulster County, New York]]
[[Category:Transportation buildings and structures in Wayne County, Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Transportation buildings and structures in Orange County, New York]]
[[Category:Canals opened in 1828]]
[[Category:National Register of Historic Places in Wayne County, Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:National Register of Historic Places in Ulster County, New York]]
[[Category:National Register of Historic Places in Orange County, New York]]
[[Category:National Register of Historic Places in Pike County, Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:National Register of Historic Places in Sullivan County, New York]]
[[Category:Delaware River]]