What is the social history of the canal in Pennsylvania?
The canal was extremely important not because it made money (in fact, it didn’t), but because it helped people spread through the frontier and bring their household goods with them. Many homesteads were settled and businesses sprang up beside the canal. People couldn’t travel easily 200 years ago, especially in the mountains. And the West Branch of the Susquehanna River is very shallow and has many rapids, so river travel wasn’t very popular. Building a canal enabled people to send and receive many things, sell their produce and lumber, and even travel to remote places easily. The canal boats were pulled by mules at a rate of four miles per hour.
