TDC project hopes to preserve D&H history

Rockland, too, had its share of bigots in white

By Edward Lundquist | Manor Ink

There is something surprisingly thematic, a sort of energy, that surrounds foundations and other old stone creations. For example, the Delaware and Hudson Canal. Stone walls, green algae and pond weeds at the bottom, sycamores hanging overhead. Then, in winter, the canal becomes a different creature. Covered in a blanket of snow, a beautiful and bizarre shape in the earth. There is an energy to old things that cannot be replaced, and that is why they have to be preserved.

The D&H Canal is one of those things that means a lot in terms of the history of our area, yet only a few today remember and recognize its importance. One of those people is John Conway, the Sullivan County historian, who, along with his wife Debra, is trying to preserve the history of the canal.

A series of locks and dams

Originally created to transport anthracite coal and bluestone, both common in the area, the canal’s construction was started on July 13, 1826. It spanned 108 miles, with 108 locks and 26 dams, basins and reservoirs. Once the canal was created, transporting materials in the region became much easier.

Why not just use the Hudson and Delaware rivers, you may ask? Because those rivers were dangerous to travel on, not only because of unpredictable waters, but also because of massive logging floats, huge long stretches of lumber sent floating down the river to be processed. There were, at points in the canal, areas called slackwater dams, where boats had to cross over one of four rivers – the Delaware, Lackawaxen, Rondout and Neversink – to the canal on the other side. Those could end up being very dangerous, and accidents occurred often, leading to the creation of aqueducts over the river to carry the boats instead.

Locks were frequent points along the canals, chambers that raised or lowered the barges to different levels in the stretch of water. Closed off by two doors with sluice gates in them, they used natural water pressure to fill up or empty out the chamber, raising the boat, and then opening up the door. They were probably the best-kept sections of the canals, and were often made from stone while the rest of the canal was more like a stagnant water ditch.

Completion of the Erie Railroad was what killed the D&H Canal. After the creation of the railroad, which could transport materials far more efficiently and directly, canals became relics. The D&H Canal company dropped the canal entirely, even from their name, and focused entirely on the railroad. Once the canal was gone, its waterways were filled in, or stretches of them were turned into public parks.

Canal preservation

The Delaware Company, a non-profit established by the Conways and others, has been instrumental in the idea that these sites should be protected, repaired, and celebrated. Their latest endeavor, dubbed “The Kate Project,” will serve to commemorate the lives of the canal’s  “hoggees.” Hoggees were people who led the mules which pulled the boats through the canal waters. Due to the narrowness of the waterways, boats and barges had little-to-no control over their movements, leading to the requirements of these carriers. The term “hoggees” is thought to derive from the instructions given horses or mules: “haw” for right, and “gee” for left.

Most hoggees were teens or younger children who had to lead the mules as many as 18 hours each day. While some were children of boat owners, others were orphaned or abandoned children pressed into this difficult work. “It was said that if a mule and his hoggee were to fall into the canal at the same time, people would save the mule first,” said Conway.

Hoggees are one of the most commonly used visual representations for the D&H Canal. There are paintings of them, sculptures, drawings, and even some books. To honor these children, The Delaware Company is in the process of commissioning a statue of a young girl hoggee that will be part of a new half-mile trail connecting the eagle viewing spot along the Delaware River with the remnants of the towpath leading to the Roebling Bridge in Barryville. The new path will also have bluestone benches and informational panels so that visitors can know the story of the D&H Canal and, in Conway’s words, “contemplate both the beauty of the river and the life of these children.”