York Haven mural of first working canal in PA
Cliff Satterthwaite painted two large murals for the York Haven State Bank in 1980. This mural depicts canal operations in York Haven during the 1840-1850s era; and looks across the Susquehanna River towards Falmouth, Lancaster County. That canal at York Haven was the first working canal in Pennsylvania; opening on November 22, 1797.
The two murals were originally produced for the walls of the York Haven State Bank; located on the northeast corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and North Landvale Street in York Haven. It eventually became a branch of Drovers Bank. This branch was moved to Newberrytown, where it is now an office of Fulton Bank. When the York Haven branch closed, the large Satterthwaite murals were donated to York Haven and now hang in the Borough Hall.
On November 22, 1797, the Conewago Canal Company opened a canal to navigate the Conewago Falls. George Prowell’s 1907 History of York County, PA, notes in Volume I, Pages 602-603:
One of the most notable events in the history of internal improvements in the State of Pennsylvania was the opening of a navigable canal around the Conewago Falls, on the west side of the Susquehanna River. It was the first canal built in this state, and so far as definite records go, the first in the United States.
Further investigation does verify this canal as being the first working canal in Pennsylvania; however it was not quite the first working canal in the United States. Building the canal was a formidable task; construction costs ballooned to over five times initial estimates. The canal was about one mile long, hugging the York County bank of the Susquehanna River from the top of the Conewago Falls, downriver to two locks at the lower end, near present day York Haven; all required so that river traffic could negotiate the 19-foot drop of the Conewago Falls. To understand the topography of the area, here is an annotated present-day aerial view:
This 2015 aerial view of the Conewago Falls area of Susquehanna River will be explained, in greater detail, within Tuesday’s post on the York Haven Paper Company. The York Haven Paper Company and the York Haven Power Company may never have been built at this site, without the infrastructure ventures initiated by the 1797 canal.
The key word is working canal, in being the first working canal in Pennsylvania. The Legislature authorized the Conewago Canal Company to construct the canal on April 10, 1793; which was not the first canal authorized in the state. However the canal at York Haven was the first canal in the state that was completed and put into operation. Governor Thomas Mifflin traveled from the state capitol in Philadelphia to witness the official opening on November 22, 1797.
John Hall wrote the Commonwealth’s official report several days later, complimented the Conewago Canal Company on their success, especially praising the operation of the locks, since their, “construction, &c., being new in this Country.” John Hall commended the company for, “digging the Canal a mile nearly in length, 40 feet wide and four feet deep, thro’ the most difficult ground within the State.”
Joshua Scott’s 1858 map of Lancaster County includes details on several bordering towns in York County. The York County information on this map duplicates the York Haven details on Joshua Scott’s other Lancaster County maps of 1824 and 1842. Because during 1851, the railroad from York, through York Haven, to Lemoyne was completed; however does not appear on the 1858 map. Nevertheless, the 1797 canal does appear:
The mile long canal not only aided in navigation, but also provided a ready pool of elevated water to supply hydropower for several mills. The York Haven Company, under whose direction four large flour mills were erected, laid out the town of York Haven in 1814.
In 1814, James Hopkins constructed a competing one-mile long canal around the Lancaster County side of the Conewago Falls. Hopkins Canal was later incorporated into the Pennsylvania Canal, extending upriver from Columbia.
The competition from the much longer Pennsylvania Canal, spelled the demise of the short stretch of canal at York Haven. However it was the railroads that eventually closed down canal operations, not only at York Haven, but all across the country.
Related posts include:
- #6 York Haven Paper Company; on the Site of One of the Earliest Canals in America
- York Haven Borough is gifted a Town Hall
- The Design of America’s First Iron Steamboat
- Iron Steamboat Codorus tackles Nanticoke Falls
- The Iron Steamboat Codorus heads to North Carolina
- Lancaster County Maps have York County Information
- Great Lakes Cruise on the Yorktown
