Seller:historicsellsmemorabilia✉️(6,894)99.5%,
Location:Fort Lauderdale, Florida, US,
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Item:156139361477"Union Canal Company" Samuel Mifflin Hand Written Letter Dated 1815.
Up for auction a RARE! "Union Canal Company" Samuel Mifflin Hand Written Letter Dated 1815.
ES-183A
Proposed by
William Penn in 1690 to tap the agricultural wealth of the Commonwealth
and give access to a second settlement on the Susquehanna River, the Union
Canal was the first ever surveyed in the United States. This was done by
David Rittenhouse and William Smith in 1762 and 1770. First chartered as
the Schuylkill and Susquehanna Canal Co., work was begun in 1792 under the
direction of William Weston, an English engineer. Several miles of the
Canal were dug and 5 locks were built between Myerstown and Lebanon before
financial difficulties caused the work to cease. It was this area that
President George Washington visited in 1793. The State Legislature granted
permission to raise $400,000 by lottery in 1795. In two decades and fifty
drawings, $33 million was awarded in prize money, but only $270,000
reached the coffers of the Canal Company. This was the largest canal
lottery in the nation’s history.Reorganized in 1811 as the Union Canal
Company of Pennsylvania with Samuel Mifflin as President, work began in
1821 and the Canal was completed for the opening in 1828. A Branch canal
was finished in 1830 reaching from the Water Works north to Pine Grove to
tap the coal fields and supply much needed water for the Summit Level. The
Canal required an elaborate pumping system to keep the Summit Level from
going dry. Canvass White, of Erie Canal fame, was the chief engineer with
Simeon Guilford as his assistant. The cost was in excess of six million
dollars. In 1832, the Union Canal Railroad leading to Lorberry
Junction below Tremont was opened. The 102 locks of the Canal were built
too small (8 ½ ’ x 75 ′ ) and could not accommodate the larger boats from the
Pennsylvania Canal and the Schuylkill Canal. Enlargement took place in the
1850s, increasing lock size to 17 ′ x 90 ′ . A flood in June of 1862
devastated the Canal from Pine Grove to Middletown. Costly repairs,
continual water problems and the completion of the Lebanon Valley Railroad
in 1857 from Reading to Harrisburg reduced the revenues and caused the
closing of the Union Canal in 1885. (Plaque erected in 1988 by the Lebanon
County Historical Society.) The Lebanon County Historical Society owns and
maintains the U nion Canal Tunnel..
Condition:Used
Signed:Yes
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Seller - "Union Canal Company" Samuel Mifflin Hand Written Letter Dated 1815
6,894+ items sold. 0.5% negative feedback. Great seller with very good positive feedback and over 50 ratings.