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Carbondale Waymart Honesdale White Mills Hawley Barryville Pond Eddy Sparrowbush Port Jervis Hugeunot Cuddebackville Wurtsboro Summitville Philipsport Ellenville Port Benjamin Alligerville High Falls Rosendale and Eddyville These are just some of the towns whose prosperity was directly affected by the D&H Canal. In fact, many of them would not exist today if it were not for the canal. The Statue of Liberty, the Brooklyn Bridge, the sidewalks of many of the major cities of the east, the uniforms of the Union soldiers and the explosive growth of NYC in the 1800s, to name just a few things, were all made possible by the D&H Canal. The canal is an integral part of the history of this country and particularly this region. Unfortunately, its importance is greatly under appreciated, as is evidenced by the continuing destruction of what is left of it. When we hear statements like, “I don’t know why someone hasn’t filled that ditch in before now”, or, “Why are you trying to preserve what’s left? It’s been closed longer than it was open”, it becomes apparent that appreciation for how we got here is sorely lacking. I firmly believe that if we can get people walking along the route, standing inside a 100’ long dried laid stone lock, marveling at the sheer size of it, appreciating the effort it took to build a 30’ wall straight up from a river’s ledge, designing an ingenious rail system that used gravity as the primary energy, and all of it without backhoes and GPS systems and laser transits and water pumps, then interest in the history of the canal, gravity railroad and the area will increase. Washington Irving once said that if this canal was in Europe it would be world famous. It isn’t. It follows the valleys created by the Lackawaxen, Upper Delaware, Neversink and Rondout rivers, not exactly populous areas. But that should not diminish its importance. Hopefully one day soon we will have hundreds, if not thousands, walking this route once again. Perhaps they can bring back, not just nostalgia, but some of the prosperity that left with the closing of the canal. With the efforts of groups like the Upper Delaware Council and others, including the D&H Transportation Heritage Council, it could become a reality sooner than later. (Excerpt of a speech given by Cliff Robinson Jr., President of The Delaware and Hudson Canal and Gravity Railroad Conservancy to the Upper Delaware Council in 2010.) |
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