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Canals and Rails, Opportunity and Change 1834-1854:
In the first decades of the nineteenth-century, America was bursting with a sense of excitement and optimism. No obstacle seemed too great -- not even the rugged Allegheny Mountains of Pennsylvania -- as citizens of the New Republic surged ever westward.
The Portage Railroad provided a link between eastern and western Pennsylvania as it crossed the Alleghenies, joining two sections of the Commonwealth's Main Line Canal. Commonly known as the "Public Works," this state-owned system of canals and rails was an engineering marvel.
From 1834 to 1854, the Public Works offered the fastest and cheapest way to move raw materials, manufactured goods, and passengers between the bustling markets of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. From Pittsburgh, people and goods moved westward to the Ohio and Mississippi River Valleys and other western areas. As a result, western Pennsylvania, especially those areas alongside the Main Line, experienced growth, prosperity, and change.
Canals like the Pennsylvania Main Line and the Erie in New York were a cheaper method of transporting goods and people than overland. These canals assisted in opening the interior of the new United States to settlement and trade.
"The whole continent presents a scene of scrambling and roars with greedy hurry. Go ahead! is the order of the day."
-- a foreign visitor to America ca 1830 |