When we scheduled this tour last year lots of members signed up. However, the tour date turned out to be one of the hottest and muggiest days of the year and only a few hardy souls chose to attend. This year we are offering the tour again and hoping for better weather.
The Delaware & Raritan Canal, completed in 1834, was built to carry Pennsylvania coal to the New York market. Unlike the Morris Canal, however, the D&R chose an easier 44-mile route across the waist of New Jersey from Bordentown to New Brunswick. A 22-mile-long feeder brought water from the upper Delaware River to a junction with the main canal at Trenton. Since this route also connected the countries' two greatest cities, New York and Philadelphia, the state also issued a similar charter to the Camden & Amboy Railroad. Rather than compete, these two interests formed a Joint Company and shared one of the most powerful and controversial monopolies in New Jersey history. Today, most of the canal is still in service supplying drinking water to towns along its route and offering recreational activities as the D&R Canal State Park. On this tour we will follow the canal from Kingston to New Brunswick making several stops along the way.
Please register by e-mail at macgraphics1@verizon.net .
This will be an all day, drive-it-yourself tour, with easy walking and some off-trail exploration. We will start at Kingston and end at New Brunswick. A map of the driving route will be provided. Bring a lunch and something to drink. Few facilities are available. Please click here for a map with directions and information.
If you wish to use public transportation, we can accommodate a small number of people arriving at NJ Transit's Princeton Junction Station. If you plan to come by train, please let us know by e-mail in advance.
