Transportation

An early view of men loading slate onto a train car.

Click here to see an 1816-1821 map of Northampton and Lehigh Counties that displays roads. (Source)

The Roads

The majority of material transportation from the three large slate centers of Slateford, Slatington and Chapman, prior to the 1840's, was by drawn wagons across existing roads. Most of this transport was to the largest markets for these quarries at the time in Bethlehem, Easton and Allentown. Although not "local" by the standards of the day, none of these three markets would have been considered large scale on the level of New York or Philadelphia, but due to the weight of slate and the general quality of roads, transportation beyond these relatively close markets was financially not viable. By 1900 though, during the peak of the slate industry, a road network was superimposed on the Lehigh Valley that had adjusted to the slate industry offering a reasonable route for taking product to larger markets beyond. Although the roads were a means for transportation, the scale of production for the industry would never have reached the levels that it did without the railroads or the canals which were both available by the turn of the century, although not extensively through the district, thus making the roads critical to slate transportation . While the rail lines became the primary means of transportation for the majority of the industry, the roads themselves would continue to serve the slate industry since many of the communities did not have rail until quite late.

Image Source: Wikipedia

A map showing the route of the original Delaware Canal, passing between Walnutport and Slatington, both communities that were a vital part of the slate industry.

The Canals

The canal system was only marginally used by the industry and much of the reason for that had to do with timing. The use of canals had been important to the development of extractive industries throughout much of Pennsylvania, most notably for coal which was the source of canal financing. Although the peak period for canal use in the state was prior to the most productive years for slate, those canals were still seen as a viable means of slate transportation. The Lehigh Canal, established by the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company, was started in 1818 and had full two way traffic established by 1827. This canal became a major transportation route through the region (passing through Slatington and Walnutport) carrying coal to the large cities of the east coast and offering the slate quarries closest to the waterways, a means to transport their product to Philadelphia. While the slate industry was establishing itself as early as the 1830's, it would not reach its peak until much later, going through its largest expansion period from 1850 to 1900. Slate expansion was taking place in both Slatington and the Hard Vein Region (Chapman and Edelman-Belfast) from 1850 to 1880 while Bangor had its greatest development between 1860 and 1880, and Pen Argyl would not see its largest expansion until even later, from 1880 to 1910. A second likely possibility for canal transport was along the Morris Canal which ran from Phillipsburg New Jersey, just across the river from Easton PA, across the state of New Jersey, ending in Jersey City along the Hudson. This route would have been easy for any slate companies just below the Water Gap to transport slate down the Delaware to Phillipsburg, ultimately providing a transportation route to New York City.

The map above is interactive by using your mouse and can be expanded to full screen by clicking on the full screen icon in the top right corner of the view.

Between 1830 and 1860 an enormous railway building boom in the United States allowed railroads to replace canals as a primary mode of transportation, if for no other reason it allowed for faster movement on a large scale, but it was one event regionally that helped to secure the future of trains through the region. The great flood of June 4 and 5, 1862, was a significant turning point for the canals in Pennsylvania. This event resulted in the almost complete destruction of the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company’s costly improvements on the Upper Lehigh. It was commonly believed that the giving way of the large dams had been the chief cause of the large damage done along the entire valley, and as a result strong popular feeling rose against their being rebuilt. This opposition culminated in the passage of an act by the State Legislature, March 4, 1863, prohibiting the rebuilding of dams on the Upper Lehigh for canal purposes, "because of the peril to which they subjected people and property"¹. While the trains were already in place, and their success was assured, this legislation would have a big impact on the rate of development of the train lines that would penetrate the region to help in the transport of all extracted materials, including slate.

The Early Rails

Competition for the valuable resource of coal proved highly beneficial for the slate industry, so by 1850 two rail lines had penetrated the region. The Lehigh and Susquehanna Railroad, founded by the Lehigh Coal and Navigation Company, had a connector line between Allentown and the anthracite coal region, with a line that also followed the Lehigh River, cutting the Slate Belt almost in half. The Depot in Slatington opened in 1846, and Slatington, being a stop on the line, was early to adapt to the rail lines for the transportation of slate. The second line, the Lehigh Valley Railroad, went from Reading through Allentown and Bethlehem, to Easton and New York City.

A view of the side walls of the Phoenix Quarry in Wind Gap showing boxcars at the lip of the pit ca. 1914.

Image Source: The Norman B. Leventhal Map Center

Image Source: United States Library of Congress

Three different panoramic views of communities in the Slate Belt show the clear relationship between the quarrying companies and the train lines. The top image is a portion of a view of Chapman Quarries from 1885 which shows how close the rails ran to the actual quarries, and in fact the C.R.R. in the view are the initials of the Chapman Railroad. The second view from 1918 shows two different independent train lines weaving through the quarries of Bangor. The third panoramic view is of Slatington from 1884. Number 23 represents the Williams Quarry while number 32 represents the Berks County Railroad. This close proximity to rail was typical of all the successful quarries in the reigion. (click on an image to see any of these view as full representation.)

"Popularly known as Charley Brodhead's Huckleberry Railroad, now the Lehigh & Lackawanna Railroad, leading from Bethlehem to the great slate quarries in and about Chapman, Wind Gap, Pen Argyl and Bangor, with a branch leading through the famous Wind Gap of the Blue Mountains and extending to Saylor's Lake in Monroe County. The objective point of the road is Stroudsburg on the Delaware Lackawanna & Western Railroad, a connection with which will make it the shortest rail line for summer tourists from Philadelphia to the resorts at Delaware Water Gap, Stroudsburg, the Pocono Mountains, Bushkill, Dingman's High Falls and Milford on the Upper Delaware."

From: Portrait and Biographical Record of Lehigh, Northampton and Carbon Counties, Pennsylvania, 1894

An 1895 Map of Lehigh and Northampton County showing all of the railroad interests in the region including the Bangor and Portland; The Lehigh and Susquehanna; the Lehigh and Lackawanna; the Reading; and the Pennsylvania, Poughkeepsie and Boston (aka: the Lehigh and New England). Click on the map to view in a higher resolution.

By 1900, five new railroad concerns served the Slate Belt

1. The Philadelphia and Reading Railroad (also known just as the Reading Railroad), which was one of the first challengers breaking into the near monopoly held by Lehigh Coal & Navigation Company for coal transportation, ran a line from Reading and Hamburg to Lynnport and Slatedale.
2. The Lehigh Valley Railroad spurred from Slatington to Slatedale, giving the entire western section of the region access to rail.
3. The Lehigh and New England Railroad ran from Walnutport eastward to Portland on the border of New Jersey and ultimately to the cities of New England. This route went through the center of all the major slate communities including Wind Gap, Pen Argyl and Bangor.
4. In addition, the Central Railroad of New Jersey obtained the Lehigh and Susquehanna railroad, extending a spur from Chapman to Windgap as well as another spur from Bangor to Martins Creek along the Delaware.
5. Between 1872 and 1900, the Bangor and Portland Railroad, whose single main objective was to carry slate, operating only in the slate region, built lines between Bangor and Portland, Pen Argyl and Nazareth, Pen Argyl and Flicksville as well as between Nazareth and Easton.