View source for Main Line of Public Works

{{Infobox Canal
  |name        = Main Line of Public Works
  |image       = Pennsylvania canals.png
  |image_caption     = Map of historic [[Pennsylvania]] canals and connecting railroads
  |alt     =A network of east-west canals and connecting railroads spanned Pennsylvania from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh. North-south canals connecting with this east-west canal ran between West Virginia and Lake Erie on the west, Maryland and New York in the center, and along the border with Delaware and New Jersey on the east. Many shorter canals connected cities such as York, Port Carbon, and Franklin to the larger network.
  |former_names      =
  |modern_name      =
  |original_owner     = [[Pennsylvania|Commonwealth of Pennsylvania]]
  |engineer    =
  |other_engineer  =
  |date_act    =1826
  |date_began  = 1828
  |date_use    =
  |date_completed   = 1834
  |date_extended    =
  |date_closed = Sold to Pennsylvania Railroad in 1857 with the last canal segment near [[Harrisburg, Pennsylvania|Harrisburg]] closing in 1901
  |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       = [[Philadelphia]]
  |original_start     =
  |start_note  =
  |end_point         = [[Pittsburgh]]
  |original_end       =
  |end_note    =
  |branch      = [[Wiconisco Canal]], Kittanning Feeder, Allegheny Outlet
  |branch_of   = Pennsylvania Canal
  |connects_to        = [[Delaware River]], [[Schuylkill Canal]], [[Transportation in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania#Canals|Conestoga Navigation]], [[Susquehanna and Tidewater Canal]], [[Codorus Navigation]], [[Union Canal (Pennsylvania)|Union Canal]], [[Pennsylvania Canal (Susquehanna Division)|Susquehanna Division]], [[Allegheny River]], [[Monongahela River]], [[Ohio River]], [[Ashley Planes]], [[Lehigh and Susquehanna Railroad]], [[Lehigh Canal]], and [[Delaware Canal]]
  |locks       = 168
  |original_num_locks     =
  |lock_note   = The Eastern Division Canal had 14 locks, the Juniata Division 86, and the Western Division 68
  |elev_ft        = 2322
  |elev_note   = Summit of the Allegheny Portage Railroad through [[Blair Gap]]
  |status      = Canals abandoned except for historic and recreational segments. Many railroad segments survive as part of the [[Keystone Corridor]].
  |navigation_authority         =
}}

The '''Main Line of Public Works''' was a package of legislation passed by the [[Pennsylvania|Commonwealth of Pennsylvania]] in 1826{{efn |The legislation was amended several times, usually to substitute some other means or project as a result of some engineering difficulty or obstacle that was unforeseen and difficult to accomplish notably in 1828, and 1834 which redefined goals and reset funding while authorizing right-of-ways and charters, etcetera. }} to establish a means of transporting freight{{efn  |In 1824–1826, ''the 'best means' ''of moving ''both people and cargo'' meant [[water transport]], usually by using [[mule]] towed barges compatible with the waterway. Such technologies and systems had been in service for many centuries in the [[canal]]s in Europe (old proven technologies) connecting rivers and ports, bypassing marshlands, or even crossing [[peninsula]]r barriers. <br/>* Towpath canals were also by far, the fastest way to travel, the commercial drivers, drovers, and infrastructure giving otherwise unobtainable average speeds over long distances, barring competing sea transport with favorable winds—and the endurance to ride for a long, long work day on a given vehicle. If duration or illness became an issue, many locks sprouted pubs, stores, and inns catering to the travelers and boatmen and the canals were the first travel companies to offer passenger services on regular schedules, and usually provided options to jump off with allowances to later continue the journey on a later regularly scheduled barge or boat. }} between [[Philadelphia]] and [[Pittsburgh]]. It funded the construction of various long-proposed canal and road projects, mostly in southern Pennsylvania, that became a canal system and later added railroads. Built between 1826 and 1834, it established the [[Pennsylvania Canal System]] and the [[Allegheny Portage Railroad]].
 
Later amendments substituted a new technology, [[rail transport|railroads]], in place of the planned but costly {{convert|82|mi|adj=on}} canal connecting the [[Delaware River]] in Philadelphia to the [[Susquehanna River]].{{efn |The canal connecting the Susquehanna to Philadelphia was envisioned south of the [[Schuylkill Canal]] (a navigation) transiting through a water gap and through [[Reading, Pennsylvania|Reading]], which barely had enough water, given much of what was available had to be split to the Union Canal, to be reliable during summer and autumn. The poor water supply for the Schuylkill Navigation was one reason [[Josiah White]] dropped his interest in the project and explored taking over the lackluster [[Lehigh Coal Mine Company]] and proposed the [[navigation]] improving the navigability of the Lehigh River. The legislature granted him permission to bankrupt himself on the Lehigh (which had seen its share of mostly publicly funded improvement attempts<ref 
 name=improvements>{{cite book | title = The History of the Counties of Lehigh & Carbon, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania | url  = http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~carbdat/m&h/ch_2.htm#_Internal_Improvements_- |author1=Alfred Mathews |author2=Ausin N. Hungerford|location=Philadelphia|date=1884 | publisher = Ancestry.com, Transcribed from the original in April 2004 by Shirley Kuntz |quote =The task which Josiah White and Erskine Hazard undertook, that of making the Lehigh a navigable stream, was one which had before been several times attempted, and as often abandoned as too expensive and difficult to be successfully carried out.  The Legislature was early aware of the importance of the navigation of this stream, and in 1771 passed a law for its improvement. Subsequent laws for the same object were enacted in 1791, 1794, 1798, 1810, 1814, and 1816, and a company had been formed under one of them which expended upwards of thirty thousand dollars in clearing out channels, one of which they attempted to make through the ledges of slate about seven miles above Allentown, though they soon relinquished the work. }}</ref> as well) }}  The route from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh remained a patchwork of canals and railroads until the [[Pennsylvania Railroad]] was built in the 1850s.

==Historic Background==
[[File:NorthAmerica1762-83.png|thumb|As a side agreement in support of their allied Indians, the British Colonial authorities closed the region west of the [[Appalachian Mountains|Appalachians]] and the [[gaps of the Allegheny]] to further migrations, even resorting to having military patrols forcibly removing colonists from their [[Homesteading|homesteads]]. The policy was very unpopular among American colonists, and grew more so as time went by.<ref name="AmHeritageBk">{{cite encyclopedia |year=1961 |title=The American Heritage Book of Indians|editor=Alvin M. Josephy Jr. |pages=187–219|publisher=American Heritage Publishing Co. |lccn=61-14871}}</ref>]]

Trans-Appalachian settlement had begun in earnest during the latter years of the [[French and Indian War]] (1754-1763). Following the war, the British government made several agreements, primarily with the [[Iroquois]], which resulted in official policies to curb the expansion of settlement in the [[Colonial history of the United States|colonial]] [[Midwest|West]] (today's Midwest). This was one of many British policies that created support for the [[American Revolution]]<ref name=Proc>[[Royal Proclamation of 1763#United States|See section]]</ref> along the [[American frontier]] for those hoping to emigrate into the [[Ohio Country]], and also for [[East Coast of the United States|East Coast]] seaboard populations that were blooming in the pre-industrialization period. 
 
After the 1779 [[Sullivan Expedition]] broke the power of the [[Five Civilized Nations]] of the Iroquois towards the end of the [[American Revolutionary War]], settlement became viable from the lower [[Susquehanna Valley]] to [[Upstate New York]] as far as [[Lake Erie]]. The U.S. was able to claim [[Allegheny Front|trans-Appalachian territories]] from the Ohio River to the lower [[Great Lakes]], and west to [[Minnesota]] and [[Wisconsin]]. 
 
As the Revolutionary War wound down in the 1780s, many family groups moved west, establishing scattered settlements from below the [[Wyoming Valley]] across the near west into the retreating western frontiers and the lands of the old [[Ohio Country]]. In the early 1800s, the new farms established along the moving frontier west of the Appalachian mountains were being connected back to Atlantic seaboard cities by turnpikes, canals, and other transportation infrastructure works funded mostly by private funds or local governments. By the 1810s the population west of the mountains was exploding. Regional transport hubs were established in [[Brownsville, Pennsylvania|Brownsville]], [[Pittsburgh]], [[Cincinnati]], [[Buffalo, New York|Buffalo]], [[Detroit]], and [[New Orleans]] (and later in the 1840s [[St. Louis]], [[Chicago]], and [[St. Joseph]], [[Missouri]] would develop similarly). The markets of this burgeoning population were targeted by the business class of Philadelphia and New Jersey.

The [[War of 1812]] exacerbated a difficult energy crisis.<ref>{{cite journal |title=The Canal Age |issue=July 1, 1998 |journal= Archaeology (Online)|access-date= 2016-06-12 |institution= A publication of the Archaeological Institute of America |author= James E. Held |date= July 1, 1998 |url= http://archive.archaeology.org/online/features/canal |quote= On the settled eastern seaboard, forest decimation created an energy crisis for coastal cities, but the lack of water- and roadways made English coal shipped across the Atlantic cheaper in Philadelphia than Pennsylvania anthracite mined 100 miles away.<!-- Canals would benefit both the East and the Midwest. For more than a century, they had provided Europe with inexpensive, reliable transportation, and--->... George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and other founding fathers believed they were the key to the New World's future.}}</ref> Bituminous coal imports from [[Liverpool|Liverpool, England]] ground to a halt under an 1812 embargo, cutting off a major industrial fuel source for most American factories at that time. Simultaneously, residential heating fuel in the Philadelphia region was already becoming scarce and more expensive due to [[Logging|over-logging]] of the local forests on the eastern seaboard.<ref name="Hagner">{{cite book |last= Hagner |first= Charles V. |url= https://archive.org/details/earlyhistoryoffa00hagn |title= Early history of the Falls of Schuylkill, Manayunk, Schuylkill and Lehigh navigation companies, Fairmount waterworks, etc. |page=46 |publisher= Caxton, Remsen, and Haffelfinger |location= 819 & 821 Market Street, Philadelphia, USA |date= 1869 |access-date= February 19, 2025}}</ref> These mounting fuel shortages would motivate Pennsylvanian lawmakers, industrialists, and residents to better exploit local coal resources in the decades during and following the war.

==Previous interior transportation projects==
On March 31, 1790 the Pennsylvania General Assembly passed a resolution that authorized several river surveys, following petitions from the [[Society for Promoting the Improvement of Roads and Inland Navigation]].<ref name="CTB">{{cite web |url=http://www.prrths.com/newprr_files/Hagley/PRR1790.pdf |title=A GENERAL CHRONOLOGY OF THE PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD COMPANY ITS PREDECESSORS AND SUCCESSORS AND ITS HISTORICAL CONTEXT |last=Baer |first=Christopher |edition=May 2015 |date=May 2015 |access-date=2025-04-08 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240724013911/http://www.prrths.com/newprr_files/Hagley/PRR1790.pdf |archive-date=2024-07-24}}</ref> These surveys confirmed that several rivers within Pennsylvania were suitable for improvement into navigations{{efn |[[Navigation_(disambiguation)|man-made watercourses similar to canals]]}}. In 1791 following the results of the surveys, an appropriation was made by the state of Pennsylvania to improve the Lehigh River. With the expectation of a soon-to-be-navigable Lehigh River, the [[Lehigh Coal Mine Company]] was founded in 1793 and subsequently purchased {{convert|10|e3acres}} of land in the [[Mauch Chunk]] region of the Pennsylvania Coal Region. They created a {{convert|9|mi|km}} road from their Mauch Chunk mining operation to the bank of the Lehigh River. However, the state of Pennsylvania did not use public funds to improve Lehigh River, and the Lehigh Coal Mine Company was not successful in shipping its coal down the rough and unimproved Lehigh.<ref name=Hulbert>{{cite book |title=The Paths of Inland Commerce, A Chronicle of Trail, Road, and Waterway |last=Hulbert |first=Archer B. |editor-last=Johnson |editor-first=Allen |publisher=Yale University Press |orig-date=1st pub. 1920 |chapter=CHAPTER III. The Mastery Of The Rivers |url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/3098/3098-h/3098-h.htm |chapter-url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/3098/3098-h/3098-h.htm#Chapter03 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240723161010/https://www.gutenberg.org/files/3098/3098-h/3098-h.htm |archive-date=July 23, 2024 |access-date=April 9, 2025}}</ref>

At the outbreak of the [[War of 1812]] the foundries of Philadelphia suddenly lacked the inexpensive bituminous coal previously imported from England. Philadelphia industrialists were pressed for some solution to their foundries' fuel needs. During the war, an employee of Pennsylvania industrialist{{efn |Wire mill and nail factory owner, Josiah White built the first suspension bridge across the Schuylkill, for his factories were located near the [[Falls of the Schuylkill]], systematically worked out several ways to effectively use Anthracite coal as a clean fuel, then spent a lifetime building infrastructure to deliver anthracite to the energy consumer, most of which he had to invent, design, develop, and refine along the way.}} [[Josiah White]] had devised a method of burning [[Anthracite|"Rock Coal"]] properly in an effort to better exploit the relatively untapped coal resources within the local Pennsylvanian interior.<ref name="Hagner"></ref> White began buying shipments of local anthracite where he could, including two shipments from the Lehigh Coal Mine Company which had survived the trip down the Lehigh River.<ref name=Hulbert></ref> Pressure by various groups would encourage the Philadelphia Legislation to incorporate the [[Schuylkill Navigation Company]] on March 8, 1815.<ref name="Hagner"></ref>  The Schuylkill Navigation Company was chartered to improve the [[Schuylkill River]] into the [[Schuylkill Canal|Schuylkill Navigation]]{{efn|A series of locks, canals, dams, and other waterworks both within and adjacent to the Schuylkill River, all designed to turn the natural river into a reliable transportation and shipping route.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.racc.edu/sites/default/files/imported/Yocum/canal/History/history.html |title=History of the Schuylkill Navigation System |author=<!-- not stated --> |website=The Schuylkill Navigation System Collection |publisher=Reading Area Community College |access-date=2025-02-25}}</ref>}}in 1815.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Schuylkill Navigation Company |url=https://philadelphiaencyclopedia.org/essays/schuylkill-navigation-company/ |last=O’Rourke Holland |first=Brenna |website=The Encyclopedia of Greater Philadelphia |publisher=Mid-Atlantic Regional Center for the Humanities, Rutgers University at Camden |access-date=2025-02-25}}</ref> The aim was to reliably connect the [[Coal Region]] (especially the [[Panther Creek Valley]]) in the Pennsylvanian interior to major cities on the coast, the industrial works near them, and their ports (for interstate coal export). White was one of the incorporators of the Schuylkill Navigation Company,<ref name="Hagner"></ref> however he would distance himself from the project when the project's backers took to quarreling over the best way to proceed.<ref name=DEL&LHcanals/> Ultimately the Schuylkill Navigation project was underfunded and work progressed slowly. Other major coal-carrying canals were completed first, including the [[Lehigh Canal]] in late 1820 and the [[Erie Canal]] in 1821 in [[New_York_(state)|New York]]. By mid-decade canal projects and some railroads were being proposed, organized, chartered, and built in Pennsylvania and other northeast seaboard states.

Josiah White turned instead to an alternative route down the Lehigh and Delaware rivers,<ref name=DEL&LHcanals/> believing that Lehigh coal was high quality and that the Lehigh Coal Mine Company could be secured cheaply,<ref name=Hulbert></ref> despite the more difficult waterways of the Lehigh. White and his business partners approached the failing LCMC, and after discussion "obtained the lease of their properties for a period of twenty years at an annual rental of one ear of corn".<ref name=Hulbert></ref> White and partners then approached the Philadelphia Legislature and successfully incorporated the [[Lehigh_Coal_%26_Navigation_Company#19th_century|Lehigh Navigation Company]] in March 1818, giving the company the rights to construct the Lehigh Canal{{efn| The Legislature remarked that they "gave these gentlemen the opportunity of ruining themselves, as many members of the Legislature predicted would be the result of their undertaking."<ref name="HistLH&CarbCO">{{cite book |title=The History of the Counties of Lehigh & Carbon, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania |url=http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~carbdat/m&h/ch_2.htm#_Internal_Improvements_- |author1=Alfred Mathews |author2=Ausin N. Hungerford |location=Philadelphia |date=1884 |publisher=Ancestry.com, Transcribed from the original in April 2004 by Shirley Kuntz}}</ref>}}.<ref name="HistLH&CarbCO"></ref> The Lehigh Navigation Company would go on to construct the initial leg of the planned route, which would later be known as the [[Lehigh_Canal#Lower_canal|Lower Lehigh Canal]], from 1818 to late 1820 using private funding.<ref name="HistLH&CarbCO"></ref>

{{unreferenced section|date = December 2016}}
In 1823, White proposed creating a [[Canal|navigational canal]] that would allow deep keeled coastal ships to reach docks and pickup and transship [[coal]] down the [[Lehigh Canal]] (which White had full ownership of by 1818<ref name=DEL&LHcanals/>) to [[Easton, Pennsylvania]].  White then sought a source of coal, finding the mines of the failing and unreliable [[Lehigh Coal Mine Company]] in 1815{{efn |This mine would eventually deliver more coal through the Lehigh Canal than all of the coal they had previously delivered to market since their founding in 1792.{{Citation needed|date=March 2025|reason=By what measurement? Is this a yearly figure?}}}}. White surveyed the Lehigh river, decided the improvement project was feasible, and returned to lease the operations of the Lehigh Coal Mine Company and improve navigability on the Lehigh River.{{Citation needed|date=March 2025|reason=When did he do this? Did he do it himself?}} The first 60 miles of canal route White proposed followed the Delaware River from [[Easton, Pennsylvania|Easton]] to the Philadelphia suburb town of [[Bristol, Pennsylvania|Bristol]], and would later become the [[Delaware Canal]]. White did not have control over the Delaware River portion of the project, which was initially constructed by the State of Pennsylvania.<ref name=DEL&LHcanals></ref>

By 1818, White had obtained the legal permissions "to ruin himself" fixing up the Lehigh, founding the [[Lehigh_Coal_%26_Navigation_Company#Lehigh_Navigation_Company|Lehigh Navigation Company]]{{efn |[[Josiah White]] and his partner [[Erskine Hazard]] seeking funding, found some investors had an opinion that the coal mine had failed long enough under too many managers to have a chance, but the Navigations would work. Others, thought the coal mine was no challenge, but they'd be crazy to back the Navigations, which had seen numerous bills passed to allow navigational improvements back into the 1770s.<ref name=HistNHampCntyPA>{{cite book | chapter-url =http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/northampton/davistoc.htm | editor =Davis | author =Peter Fritts |date=1877 | access-date =9 December 2016 | title =History of Northampton County, Pennsylvania | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20161106061739/http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/northampton/davistoc.htm | archive-date =6 November 2016 | chapter =Chapters XXXIV-XXXV | quote =<br/>''There are few rivers, the navigation of which has been more the subject of legislation than that of the Lehigh. The river was first declared a public highway on the fourteenth of March, 1761, and an Act, supplementary to this, was passed in 1771. Acts, conferring corporate privileges on the "Lehigh Navigation Company," were passed February 27th, 1798,  March 7th, 1810,  March 22d, 1814,  March 19th, 1816, and  March 24th, 1817; but although under these, "considerable sums were expended", nothing of importance had been accomplished towards the desired end down to the year 1818.'' [and the charters provision were let lapse, opening the way for White & Hazard to acquire the rights.]<br/>On March 20th, 1818, their new [[Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company]] was virtually given ownership of the Lehigh to do as it would, with but one restriction. [Specifically, At some time in the future, the state might exercise its right to require they make the canal a two way water transport highway with appropriate locks and dams.] | url-status =live}}</ref>  In the end, they formed two companies with minority investors, the Lehigh Coal Company and the Lehigh Navigation Company.}} and using a quasi-lock of his own design{{efn |White's 'Bear Trap Lock' was patented, and like a trick of the days loggers, designed to block current flow while a wall of water was built up behind an obstruction (lock wing dam) then flip out of the way creating a freshet, a fast moving flood that allowed [[ark (boat)|ark]]s to float above the rocks on the rapids below on the flood waters. -- Peter Fritts, 1877 }} to construct what is now known as the [[Lehigh_Canal#Lower_canal|Lower Lehigh Canal]] between 1818 and 1820.  The works had made sufficient improvements by late 1820 to deliver 365 tons of anthracite coal to Easton{{efn | White and Hazard had circulated a prospectus with a goal for the Lehigh Navigation Company to regularly deliver ten tons of coal per month by 1824. They'd had to scramble in 1820 to find enough surprised and delighted buyers for no one was expecting anthracite in such quantities, and there was still a reluctance and lack of knowledge on how it could be burned. }} &mdash; by 1825 the annual anthracite tonnage had climbed to over {{convert|28000|ST}} per annum.  White's ventures firmly established anthracite as a reliable inexpensive fuel and proved that once-treacherous inland Pennsylvania waterways could be engineered into profitable industrial shipping routes.
 
A couple years later, the legislature declined another offer by the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company (LC&N) which had built the Lehigh Canal with private funds. LC&N was unquestionably one of the most innovative companies of the era, driving the mining, transportation and industrial development of Pennsylvania by example, implementation, and by funding quite a few projects, as well. This new proposal was to build&mdash;''at the companies expense''&mdash; the project that would (in concept) become their version of the eventual [[Delaware Canal]] (alternatively the 'Delaware Division of the Pennsylvania Canal') built by the states engineering managers a few years later.<!-- or <ref name=LH&DELcanals> Bartholomew, Metz, & Kneis, pp.4-6 </ref>---><ref name=DEL&LHcanals>{{cite book |last1= Bartholomew|first1= Ann M. |last2= Metz |first2= Lance E. |last3= Kneis |first3= Michael |date= 1989 |title=Delaware and Lehigh Canals |language= en |location=Bethlehem, Pennsylvania |publisher= Center for Canal History and Technology |isbn= 0-930973-09-7 |lccn= 89-25150 |pages= 4–5 }}</ref> The route was nearly the same, but the Delaware Canal as the state built it had numerous engineering flaws, including locks both too short and unpaired (single & supporting only one way traffic) locks LC&N's experience and expertise would have mitigated. LC&N had started coal flowing to Philadelphia using short squared-off blocky barges it called [[ark (boat)|coal arks]], but in 1822-23 was already re-doing the upper four locks on the Lehigh Canal to support a steam powered tug pulling boats over {{convert|120|ft}} built to support two way traffic with full locks. By 1825 the volume of coal coming down the Lehigh & Delaware to Philadelphia was becoming huge and problematic &mdash; LC&N was rapidly over logging the forests feeding the Lehigh to build boats for the one way trip.<ref name=DEL&LHcanals/> The extra expenses of the lack of a tow path canal for the sixty miles Easton-Philadelphia was very costly to LC&N,<ref name=DEL&LHcanals/> and the state's [[Delaware Canal]] attempt when opened in 1832 was five years later than promised and didn't work; the State had to hire Josiah White to repair its major deficiencies, then needed LC&N's expertise to operate it.<ref name=DEL&LHcanals/> LC&N ended up running both canals into the 1930s, and retained the rights to the Lehigh until the 1960s.<ref name=DEL&LHcanals/> While some problems were fixable, the [[Delaware Canal]]'s lock's design was always a costly economic problem until the Canal became the parkland and current haven for pleasure boats.<ref name=DEL&LHcanals/>
 
White and Hazard made the offer in return for a break on tolls, and even included an offer to operate the system at cost&mdash;the state garnering all the tolls. This offer too was declined, and in 1827 in a separate amending act, the state authorized the Delaware Canal, which was delayed for a few more years costing LC&N many dollars, until it was finally dug alongside, and generally in sight of the Delaware River between Easton down river to Bristol. When completed in 1832 by the state it also didn't work&mdash;having leaking issues and water supply problems like those that plagued the Union Canal and Schuylkill Navigation, and the state needed to hire Josiah White to fix it before it became fully usable in 1834. [[Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company]] would operate the Canal into the 1930s, and controlled its resources and those rights attained on the Lehigh until the 1960s when they reverted or conveyed back to the state.

As Philadelphia saw improved commerce on the [[Lehigh Canal|Lehigh]] and [[Schuylkill River]]s{{efn |there were at least 17 efforts&mdash;most largely publicly funded&mdash;to improve navigability of the Schuylkill before 1818}}, though in 1824 both systems needed further development, a larger interconnected canal system was envisioned by New Jersey and Pennsylvanian businessmen operating in the city. While these businessmen urged local government officials to construct more canals, the same officials were also continually reading the press coverage around the building of the [[Erie Canal]] - construction updates, works designs and engineering feats - which was expected to massively boost the economy of [[New York City]]. Philadelphia's luminaries were vying with other coastal cities to become the United States' most important and influential port, as the country's population expanded westward to the Ohio Country and [[Northwest Territory]] regions. Constructing additional canals would also improve urban access to clean-burning anthracite coal; eastern cities in Pennsylvania and New Jersey had already consumed much of the eastern forests for heating fuel. Additional canals would improve access to the newly-opened [[Coal Region]] in [[Northeastern Pennsylvania]]: the initial mines in the [[Panther Creek Valley]], a further extension of the Lehigh Canal up to [[White Haven, Pennsylvania|White Haven]], and a railroad connecting that upper canal with the coal sources in the [[Wyoming Valley]].

==List of works==
The rail portions of the system were authorized in 1828 by an act of the Pennsylvania General Assembly entitled ''An act relative to the Pennsylvania Canal, and to provide for the commencement of a Railroad to be constructed at the expense of the state and to be styled "The Pennsylvania Railroad"'' <small>(Act of March 24, 1828, Pamph. Laws, p.&nbsp;221)</small>.<ref>{{Churella-PRR-1|pages=2; 43}}</ref><ref>''Compilation of the Laws of Pennsylvania relative to the Internal Improvements: together with the canal and railroad regulations, as established by the Board of Canal Commissioners'' Harrisburg:Barrett and Parke (1840), pp. 35-42</ref><ref name=Burgess>Burgess, George H. and Kennedy, Miles C. (1949), ''Centennial History of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company'', Philadelphia: The Pennsylvania Railroad Company. p. 10, 96</ref>

Begun with [[Canal|Navigations]] construction along the [[Susquehanna River|Susquehanna]] and the [[West Branch Susquehanna River|West Fork of the Susquehanna]] with surveys for the best route over the barrier of the northern [[Allegheny Mountains]], the system in time ran from [[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania|Philadelphia]] on the Delaware estuary westwards across the great plain of southern Pennsylvania (goal of connecting the Susquehanna to New York City via canals) through [[Harrisburg, Pennsylvania|Harrisburg]] and across the state to [[Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania|Pittsburgh]] and connected with other divisions of the [[Pennsylvania Canal]].  It consisted of the following principal sections, moving from east to west:<ref>{{cite web|title=Pennsylvania Canals |publisher=Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission |url=http://www.phmc.state.pa.us/ppet/canals/page1.asp?secid=31 |access-date=August 7, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070818161137/http://www.phmc.state.pa.us/ppet/canals/page1.asp?secid=31 |archive-date=August 18, 2007 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book  | last = Roberts  | first = Charles S.   | title = Triumph I  | publisher = Barnard, Roberts, and Company  | year = 1997  | location = Baltimore  | page = 34  | isbn = 0-934118-23-X }}</ref>

*'''Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad''': {{convert|82|mi|km|0}} from Philadelphia to [[Columbia, Pennsylvania|Columbia]] near the former ferry site known as Wright's Ferry, in [[Lancaster County, Pennsylvania|Lancaster County]]. Originally expected to be a bona fide canal in the 1820s conception, the easternmost leg of the [[Pennsylvania Canal]] was to be a continuation of the first funded and more difficult to construct engineering [[Canal|navigations]] and construction farther west in less populated rural regions. The canal joining the Delaware and Susquehanna rivers was to run across the most populated expanse of [[Geology of Pennsylvania#Great Valley|Pennsylvania's Great Valley]] region (and so was delayed politically in part) but its planning was overtaken by the growth of railroad technology, which by the mid-1830s had demonstrated sufficient promise to adopt the new technology for the leg of the capability and funding and construction was shifted to a railroad&mdash;it was faster and cheaper to build above ground and make bridges than it was to dig a deep ditch and provide it with reliable water supplies to enable two way barge traffic. 
*'''Eastern Division Canal''': {{convert|43|mi|km|0}} from Columbia to Duncan's Island at the mouth of the [[Juniata River]].
*'''Juniata Division Canal''': {{convert|127|mi|km|0}} from Duncan's Island to [[Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania|Hollidaysburg]]
*'''[[Allegheny Portage Railroad]]''': {{convert|36|mi|km|0}} from Hollidaysburg to [[Johnstown, Pennsylvania|Johnstown]]
*'''Western Division Canal''': {{convert|103|mi|km|0}} from Johnstown to the terminus in Pittsburgh.

The canals reduced travel time between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh from at least 23 days to just four.<ref>{{cite web|title=Allegheny Portage Railroad|url=http://bronte.wqed.org/tv/watch/onq/?id=672|publisher=WQED Multimedia TV|access-date=2013-02-20|archive-date=2013-04-16|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130416045807/http://bronte.wqed.org/tv/watch/onq/?id=672}}</ref>

The Main Line of Public Works was completed in 1834 and was sold to the [[Pennsylvania Railroad]] on June 25, 1857, for $7,500,000. Within a year, the PRR replaced the Philadelphia-Pittsburgh route with an entirely rail-based system.<ref name=Burgess/><ref>[https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1857/06/26/78500971.pdf "Sale of the Main Line of Public Works of Pennsylvania"] The New York ''Times'', June 26, 1857</ref>

==Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad==
{{main article|Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad}}
[[File:Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad Depot, Philadelphia 1854.jpeg|thumb|An 1854 illustration of the [[Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad]] Depot]]
[[File:1948 original railroads in Philadelphia.jpg|thumb|Railroads in [[Philadelphia]] that became a part of the [[Pennsylvania Railroad]]]]
The [[Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad]] began in [[Philadelphia]] at [[Broad Street (Philadelphia)|Broad]] and Vine Streets, ran north on Broad and west on Pennsylvania Avenue, a segment later taken over and submerged and tunneled over by the [[Reading Company|Reading Railroad]], then headed northwest across the [[Columbia Railroad Bridge|Columbia Bridge]] over the [[Schuylkill River]]. Just after crossing the river, it traveled up the Belmont Plane, an [[inclined plane (railroad)|inclined plane]] in the current location of West [[Fairmount Park]], and continued west across the eastern part of the state to [[Columbia, Pennsylvania|Columbia]], where the Columbia Plane headed down to the [[Susquehanna River]]. At that point, the eastern division of the canal continued north along the river and then west.

The [http://oldrailhistory.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=224&Itemid=259 Northern Liberties and Penn Township Railroad] was incorporated in 1829 to build a branch continuing east on Noble Street and [[Willow Street, Philadelphia|Willow Street]] to the [[Delaware River]]. This opened in 1834.<ref>[http://www.prrths.com/Hagley/PRR1834%20June%2004.wd.pdf PRR Chronology, 1834]</ref>

===Belmont Plane===
[[File:View of the Inclined Plan near Philadelphia 1838.jpg|thumb|''View of the Inclined Plane, near Philadelphia'', an 1838 portrait]]
[[File:Tioga Locomotive 1848.jpg|thumb|A Tioga Locomotive in 1848]]
The Belmont Plane ran from the [[Schuylkill River]] for {{convert|2805|ft|m|0}}, rising {{convert|1|ft|m|1}} per {{convert|15|ft|m|1}} for a total rise of {{convert|187|ft|m|0}}. Steam-driven cables dragged the railway cars to the top of Belmont Hill.

The Plane was the site of a signal event in railroad history. On July 10, 1836, the [[Philadelphia]]-based [[Norris Locomotive Works]] drove a 4-2-0 locomotive up the Incline, making it the first steam locomotive to climb an ascending grade while pulling a load.  The {{convert|14400|lb|kg|adj=on}} engine, named ''George Washington'', hauled a load of {{convert|19200|lb|kg|0}}, including 24 people riding on the tender and one freight car, up the grade at {{convert|15|mi|km|0}} per hour. So remarkable was this accomplishment that reports in engineering journals doubted its occurrence.<ref name="Carter">Carter, Charles F. "When Railroads Were New" New York:Henry Holt & Co. (1909) pp. 128-133</ref>  Nine days later, the engine repeated the feat in a more formal trial with an even greater load.

In 1850, the state bought the West Philadelphia Railroad, which had been incorporated in 1835 to bypass the Belmont Plane and failed after completing only the section from 52nd Street west to the main line at [[Rosemont, Pennsylvania|Rosemont]]. The state built the rest from 52nd Street east to downtown, but on a different alignment than the one originally planned; the new line, put into operation October 15, 1850,<ref name=Burgess/> ended at the west end of the [[Market Street Bridge (Philadelphia)|Market Street Bridge]], from which the City Railroad continued east. The old line, which ran from the Schuylkill River up the Belmont Plane to Ardmore along the route of present-day Montgomery Avenue in Lower Merion Township, was abandoned.

The Columbia Bridge and line east to Broad and Vine Streets were sold to the [[Philadelphia and Reading Railroad]] as part of its main line. The Reading acquired the Northern Liberties and Penn Township Railroad in 1870, giving it access to the Delaware River.

The section of the old Pennsylvania Railroad running from Philadelphia west through [[Chester County, Pennsylvania|Chester County]] and, by extension, the western suburbs of Philadelphia, is still known as the [[Philadelphia Main Line|Main Line]].

The Columbia Plane, which lowered railway cars down to the Eastern Division Canal along the [[Susquehanna River]], was bypassed in 1840 by a new track alignment.<ref>[http://www.prrths.com/Hagley/PRR1836%20June%2004.wd.pdf PRR Chronology, 1836]</ref>

==Eastern Division Canal==
The Pennsylvania Canal's Eastern Division, which opened in 1833, ran {{convert|43|mi|km|0}} along the east side of the Susquehanna River between Columbia and Duncan's Island at the mouth of the Juniata River. The canal included 14 [[lock (water transport)|locks]] with an average lift of {{convert|7.5|ft|m|1}}. The state originally planned a canal of {{convert|24|mi|km|0}} running between the [[Union Canal (Pennsylvania)|Union Canal]] at Middletown to the Juniata. However, the plan changed in 1828, when the state opted to extend the Eastern Division {{convert|19|mi|km|0}} further south to connect with the newly decided replacement of a canal by the [[Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad]] at historic [[Columbia, Pennsylvania|Wright's Ferry]].<ref name=shank>{{cite book | last = Shank | first = William H. | title = The Amazing Pennsylvania Canals, 150th Anniversary Edition | publisher = American Canal and Transportation Center | year = 1986 | location = York, Pennsylvania  | isbn=0-933788-37-1}}</ref>

Engineers faced complications at the northern end of the Eastern Division Canal, where it met the Juniata Division Canal and the Susquehanna Division Canal at Duncan's Island. Boats had to cross from one side of the Susquehanna River to the other between either the Susquehanna Division or the Juniata Division on the west side and the Eastern Division on the east side. They solved the problem by building a dam {{convert|1998|ft|m|0}} long and {{convert|8.5|ft|m|1}} high between the lower end of Duncan's Island and the east bank of the Susquehanna. This formed a pool across which boats could be pulled from a wooden, two-tier [[towpath]] bridge at Clark's Ferry. Two Duncan's Island lift locks raised or lowered the boats traveling between the dam pool and the other canals.<ref name="shank" />

==Juniata Division Canal==
{{Infobox NRHP
  | name = Pennsylvania Main Line Canal, Juniata Division, Canal Section
  | nrhp_type = 
  | image = Pennsylvania Main Line Canal Juniata Division Apr 10.JPG
  | caption = Pennsylvania Main Line Canal, Juniata Division, April 2010
  | location= 1.5 mi. section of canal bet. PA RR Main Line and Juniata River, [[Granville Township, Mifflin County, Pennsylvania|Granville Township, Pennsylvania]]
  | locmapin = Pennsylvania
  | built = 1830
  | architect = DeWitt Clinton, Jr.
  | builder = DeWitt Clinton, Jr.
  | architecture = Canal
  | added = February 20, 2002
  | area = {{convert|13.6|acre}}
  | refnum = 02000069<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2010a}}</ref>
}}

The Juniata Division Canal was approved in segments starting in 1827 with a canal from near Duncan's Island in the Susquehanna River to Lewistown, {{convert|40|mi|km|0}} upstream. Subsequently, the state agreed to extend the canal to Hollidaysburg and the eastern end of the Allegheny Portage Railroad, {{convert|127|mi|km|0}} from the Susquehanna. A total of 86 locks were required to overcome a change in elevation of {{convert|584|ft|m|0}} over the full length of the canal, which opened in 1832.<ref name="shank" />

From the canal basin, westbound boats began their journey by being elevated about {{convert|10|ft|m|0}} by a lock that brought them to the level of a wooden [[Navigable aqueduct|aqueduct]] on which they were towed {{convert|600|ft|m|0}} to the south side of the Juniata. At North's Island, {{convert|18|mi|km|0}} from the Susquehanna, they were towed by a water powered continuous rope to the north side of the river across a slack water pool formed by a dam. From North's Island to Huntingdon, the river was dammed in three more places to feed water to the canal, and above Huntingdon, 14 more dams were needed to create {{convert|16|mi|km|0}} of slack water navigation in the river to supplement {{convert|22|mi|km|0}} of travel in segments of canal. In addition, the state built three reservoirs on Juniata tributaries to keep the upper parts of the canal filled with water.<ref name="shank"/>

===Remnants===
A canal section of {{convert|1.5|mi|km|1}} has been restored near Locust Campground, {{convert|3|mi|km|1}} west of Lewistown. At the western end of the canal, the Hollidaysburg Canal Basin Park has preserved two canal basins and a connecting lock; a museum at the park illustrates how canal boats transferred between the canal and the Allegheny Portage Railroad.<ref name=society>{{cite web | title = Introduction to Pennsylvania's Historic Canals | publisher = Pennsylvania Canal Society | url = http://pacanalsociety.org/sites.htm | access-date = November 26, 2009 }}</ref>

The Pennsylvania Main Line Canal, Juniata Division, Canal Section was added to the [[National Register of Historic Places]] in 2002.<ref name=nris/>

==Allegheny Portage Railroad==
{{main article|Allegheny Portage Railroad}}[[File:Lilly Culvert.jpg|thumb|right|[[Lilly, Pennsylvania|Lilly]]
 Culvert under the railroad]] From 1834 until 1854, when the Pennsylvania Railroad Company finished a competing line, the Allegheny Portage Railroad made continuous boat traffic possible over the [[Allegheny Mountains]] between the Juniata and Western Division Canals. The railroad did not unload cargo, but instead carried loaded canal boats on flatbed railroad cars over the mountains. It followed a {{convert|36|mi|km|adj=on}} route between the Juniata Canal at [[Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania|Hollidaysburg]] and the Western Division Canal at [[Johnstown, Pennsylvania|Johnstown]] which included 11&nbsp;levels, 10&nbsp;inclined planes fitted with stationary engines that could raise and lower boats and cargo, a {{convert|900|ft|m|adj=on}} [[viaduct]] over the [[Little Conemaugh River]], and many bridges.<ref name = "PHMC"/> Infrastructure included 153 drains and [[culvert]]s.<ref name ="Bianculli"/> The railroad climbed {{convert|1398|ft|m}} from the eastern canal basin at Hollidaysburg and {{convert|1171|ft|m}} from the western basin at Johnstown.<ref name = "PHMC">{{cite web  | title = The Allegheny Portage Railroad  | publisher = Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission | url = http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/things/4280/allegheny_portage_railroad/478191  | access-date = March 24, 2010}}</ref> At its summit, the railroad reached  an elevation of {{convert|2322|ft|m}} above [[sea level]].<ref name = "Bianculli">{{cite book|last =Bianculli | first= Anthony J. | title = Trains and Technology: The American Railroad in the 19th Century, Vol. 3, Tracks and Structures | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=7T3qECx0CLUC&q=allegheny+portage+railroad+high+point&pg=PA45 | page = 48| isbn =  0-87413-802-7|  access-date = March 22, 2009|year =2003|publisher =University of Delaware Press|location =Newark, Del.}}</ref>

{{Clear}}
[[File:Pittsburgh-1828.jpg|thumb|right|A map of downtown Pittsburgh in 1828 shows the routes of the [[Pennsylvania Canal]] in and near the city and the canal connections to the city's three rivers.]] <!--

--->

==Western Division Canal==
{{Infobox NRHP
  | name = Western Division-Pennsylvania Canal
  | nrhp_type = 
  | image = 
  | caption = 
  | location = Along the [[Conemaugh River]], [[Bolivar, Pennsylvania|Bolivar]], [[Derry Township, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania|Derry Township]], and [[Fairfield Township, Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania|Fairfield Township]]
  | locmapin = Pennsylvania
  | built = 1830
  | builder = Pennsylvania Canal Commission
  | architecture = 
  | added = September 17, 1974
  | area = {{convert|15|acre}}
  | refnum = 74001817<ref name="nris">{{NRISref|version=2010a}}</ref>
}}

In 1826, the state legislature authorized the first segment of the Western Division Canal, from Pittsburgh up the [[Allegheny River]] to its confluence with the [[Kiskiminetas River]] at [[Freeport, Pennsylvania|Freeport]]. Pittsburgh residents favored a route that would follow the south bank of the Allegheny River and terminate in Pittsburgh, while residents of the [[borough (Pennsylvania)|borough]] of Allegheny favored a north bank canal ending in the borough, across the river from Pittsburgh. Eventually, the canal was run along the physically more favorable north bank, but the state agreed to build the main terminal and turning basin in Pittsburgh and a secondary terminal and connecting canal, the Allegheny Outlet, in the borough. Getting the main canal across the Allegheny River into Pittsburgh required an [[Allegheny Aqueduct (Pittsburgh)|aqueduct]] of {{convert|1140|ft|m|0}}, the longest on the Pennsylvania Main Line route. Linking to the [[Ohio River]] at Pittsburgh, the Western Division Canal also linked, through a [[Pennsylvania Canal Tunnel|tunnel]] of {{convert|810|ft|m}} under Grant's Hill in Pittsburgh, with the [[Monongahela River]].<ref name="shank"/>
[[File:The Aqueduct, Pittsburgh.jpg|thumb|left|Painting of the Pennsylvania Canal Aqueduct, Pittsburgh, by Russell Smith, c. 1832]]
Subsequent Western Division Canal extensions went from Freeport up the Kiskiminetas and [[Conemaugh River|Conemaugh]] Rivers to Blairsville and then to the western end of the Allegheny Portage Railroad at Johnstown. East of Tunnelton, the route went through a canal tunnel of {{convert|817|ft|m|0}} built to avoid a long loop of the Conemaugh River. The first fully loaded freight boat traveled from Johnstown to Pittsburgh in 1831; the route through Grant's Hill opened in 1832. Over its length of {{convert|104|mi|km|0}}, the canal employed 68 locks, 16 river dams, and 16 aqueducts. From Freeport, a separate extension, the Kittanning Feeder, ran {{convert|14|mi|km|0}} up the Allegheny River to Kittanning.<ref name="shank"/>

===Johnstown Flood===
The 1889 [[Johnstown Flood]] was caused by the failure of the [[South Fork Dam]], part of the Main Line of Public Works.  The dam across the Little Conemaugh River in the hills above [[Johnstown, Pennsylvania]], created a two-square-mile (5.2&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>) reservoir. Dubbed [[Lake Conemaugh]], it supplied water to the Western Division Canal. When canal traffic declined, the lake and dam were abandoned, then sold to the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1857; the railroad in turn sold them to private interests. They were purchased by the [[South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club]] in 1879, and a private resort was built surrounding the lake.  On May 31, 1889, following heavy rains, the South Fork Dam failed, sending 20 million tons (18.2 million cubic meters) of water down the gorge toward Johnstown. More than 2,200 people were killed.<ref>{{cite web|last = Frank|first = Walter Smoter|url = http://smoter.com/flooddam/johnstow.htm|title = The Cause of the Johnstown Flood|year = 2004|publisher = Walter Smoter Frank|access-date = 2010-09-08|archive-date = 2019-04-06|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190406140339/http://smoter.com/flooddam/johnstow.htm}} According to the source, the article is a version of a May 1988 article in ''Civil Engineering'', pp. 63–66</ref>

===Remnants===
The Tunnelview Historical Site shows where in 1830 a canal tunnel of {{convert|817|ft|m|0}} was built through Bow Ridge to avoid a long bend on the Conemaugh River, {{convert|10|mi|km|0}} west of Blairsville. Saltsburg Canal Park, where Loyalhanna Creek joins the Conemaugh River to form the Kiskiminetas River, recognizes the canal's economic contribution to [[Saltsburg, Pennsylvania|Saltsburg]].<ref name=society/>

==Points of interest==
{{GeoGroup}}
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Feature
! Coordinates
! Description
|-
| [[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania|Philadelphia]]
| {{coord|39|57|08|N|75|09|50|W|globe:earth_type:city_region:US-PA_source:gnis|display=inline|name=Philadelphia, Pennsylvania}}<ref name="gnis Philadelphia">{{cite web | work = Geographic Names Information System|  publisher = United States Geological Survey | date = August 30, 1990 | url = http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic/f?p=gnispq:3:::NO::P3_FID:1215531| title = Philadelphia | access-date = March 22, 2009}}</ref>
| City at the eastern terminus of the Main Line of Public Works and the Columbia–Philadelphia Railroad
|-
| [[Columbia, Pennsylvania|Columbia]]
| {{coord|40|02|01|N|76|30|16|W|globe:earth_type:city_region:US-PA_source:gnis|display=inline|name=Columbia, Pennsylvania}}<ref name="gnis Pine Grove">{{cite web | work = Geographic Names Information System|  publisher = United States Geological Survey | date = August 2, 1979 | url = http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic/f?p=gnispq:3:::NO::P3_FID:1213954| title = Columbia | access-date = March 22, 2009}}</ref>
| [[Borough (Pennsylvania)|Borough]] at the western terminus of the Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad and the southern terminus of the Eastern Division Canal
|-
| Duncan's Island
|  {{coord|40|25|02|N|77|00|33|W|type:isle_region:US-PA_source:gnis|display=inline|name=Duncan's Island}}.<ref name="gnis Duncan's Island">{{cite web | work = Geographic Names Information System|  publisher = United States Geological Survey | date = August 2, 1979 | url = http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic/f?p=gnispq:3:::NO::P3_FID:1173598| title = Duncan Island | access-date = March 20, 2009}}</ref>
| Island at the northern terminus of the Eastern Division Canal and the eastern terminus of the Juniata Division Canal
|-
| [[Lewistown, Pennsylvania|Lewistown]]
| {{coord|40|35|57|N|77|34|17|W|globe:earth_type:city_region:US-PA_source:gnis|display=inline,title|name=Lewistown, Pennsylvania}}<ref name="gnis Lewistown">{{cite web | work = Geographic Names Information System|  publisher = United States Geological Survey | date = August 2, 1979 | url = http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic/f?p=gnispq:3:::NO::P3_FID:1213631| title = Lewistown | access-date =  March 22, 2009}}</ref>
| Borough at the western terminus of the Juniata Division Canal and the eastern terminus of the Allegheny Portage Railroad
|-
| [[Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania|Hollidaysburg]]
| {{coord|40|25|38|N|78|23|20|W|globe:earth_type:city_region:US-PA_source:gnis|display=inline|name=Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania}}<ref name="gnis Hollidaysburg">{{cite web | work = Geographic Names Information System|  publisher = United States Geological Survey | date = August 2, 1979 | url = http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic/f?p=gnispq:3:::NO::P3_FID:1177213| title = Hollidaysburg | access-date =  March 22, 2009}}</ref>
| Borough at the western terminus of the Juniata Division Canal and the eastern terminus of the Allegheny Portage Railroad
|-
| [[Johnstown, Pennsylvania|Johnstown]]
| {{coord|40|19|36|N|78|55|19|W|globe:earth_type:city_region:US-PA_source:gnis|display=inline|name=Johnstown, Pennsylvania}}<ref name="gnis Johnstown">{{cite web | work = Geographic Names Information System|  publisher = United States Geological Survey | date = August 2, 1979 | url = http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic/f?p=gnispq:3:::NO::P3_FID:1213975| title = Johnstown | access-date = March 21, 2009}}</ref>
| City at the western terminus of the Allegheny Portage Railroad and the eastern terminus of the Western Division Canal
|-
| [[Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania|Pittsburgh]]
| {{coord|40|26|26|N|79|59|45|W|globe:earth_type:city_region:US-PA_source:gnis|display=inline|name=Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania}}<ref name="gnis Pittsburgh">{{cite web | work = Geographic Names Information System|  publisher = United States Geological Survey | date = August 2, 1979 | url = http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic/f?p=gnispq:3:::NO::P3_FID:1213644| title = Pittsburgh | access-date = March 21, 2009}}</ref>
| City at the western terminus of the Main Line of Public Works and the Western Division Canal
|-
| [[Kittanning, Pennsylvania|Kittanning]]
| {{coord|40|48|59|N|79|31|19|W|globe:earth_type:city_region:US-PA_source:gnis|display=inline|name=Kittanning, Pennsylvania}}<ref name="gnis Kittanning">{{cite web | work = Geographic Names Information System|  publisher = United States Geological Survey | date = August 2, 1979 | url = http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic/f?p=gnispq:3:::NO::P3_FID:1214737| title = Kittanning | access-date = March 21, 2009}}</ref>
| Borough at the northern terminus of the Kittanning Feeder Canal
|}

==See also==
{{Portal|Railways}}
* [[Allegheny Portage Railroad]]
* [[Delaware and Hudson Canal]]
* [[Delaware Canal]], aka later: ''Pennsylvania Canal (Delaware Division)''
* [[List of canals in the United States]]
* [[Lehigh Canal]]
* '''[[Pennsylvania Canal System]]'''
:* [[Pennsylvania Canal]], aka later: Pennsylvania Canal (Eastern Division) 
:* [[Pennsylvania Canal (North Branch Division)]]
:* [[Pennsylvania Canal (Susquehanna Division)]]
:* [[Pennsylvania Canal (West Branch Division)]]
:* [[Pennsylvania Canal Guard Lock and Feeder Dam, Raystown Branch]]
:* [[Pennsylvania Canal Tunnel]]
:* [[Pennsylvania Canal and Limestone Run Aqueduct]]
* [[Schuylkill Canal]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Further reading==
For more on the [[Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad]], see William Hasell Wilson, ''The Columbia-Philadelphia Railroad and Its Successor'' (1896). A reprint of this booklet was issued in 1985. See also John C. Trautwine, Jr., ''The Philadelphia and Columbia Railroad of 1834'', in ''Philadelphia History'', Vol. 2, No. 7 (Philadelphia, PA: City History Soc. of Philadelphia, 1925). This is a pamphlet written for The City History Society of Philadelphia and read at the meeting of March 15, 1921.

==External links==
{{commons category|Pennsylvania Main Line of Public Works}}
*[http://www.pacanalsociety.org/index.htm Pennsylvania Canal Society]
*[http://www.americancanals.org/ American Canal Society]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20080907170126/http://ww2.lafayette.edu/~techclin/canal/ncm/index.html National Canal Museum]

{{GeoGroupTemplate}}
{{PRR}}
{{US canals}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1828 establishments in Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:1857 disestablishments in Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:American companies established in 1828]]
[[Category:Canals in Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Canals on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:Defunct Pennsylvania railroads]]
[[Category:Predecessors of the Pennsylvania Railroad]]
[[Category:Railway companies disestablished in 1857<!--this is when the state sold the property to the PRR-->]]
[[Category:Railway companies established in 1828<!--this appears to be when it was authorized-->]]
[[Category:National Register of Historic Places in Mifflin County, Pennsylvania]]
[[Category:National Register of Historic Places in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania]]