Delaware and Raritan Canal at Work, The (NJ) (Images of America)

The Delaware and Raritan Canal connected the Chesapeake Bay with New England ports, allowing a wide variety of vessels to use the waterway and avoid the treacherous Atlantic Ocean. The unusual machinery of the canal--locks, swing bridges, aqueducts, spill gates--is depicted in detail in The Delaware and Raritan Canal at Work. The book focuses on many of the businesses that operated along the canal, including farms, food-packing companies, rubber-reclaiming plants, coal yards, quarries, Johnson & Johnson, and Atlantic Terra Cotta. It includes scenic views along this famous waterway, one of the most successful towpath canals in the United States.

For The Delaware and Raritan Canal at Work, Linda J. Barth selected vintage images from the Canal Society of New Jersey, the Franklin Township Public Library, and private collections. The author of Arcadia's first book on the Delaware and Raritan Canal, as well as numerous canal and travel articles, she grew up in the canal town of South Bound Brook. A longtime member of the board of the Canal Society of New Jersey, she leads tours on canals throughout the Northeast.