The Photo of the Week (above) shows the introduction kiosk located near the beginning of the Morris Canal StoryWalk which is located by the Museum and picnic area of Bread Lock Park in the small community of Broadway. The two photos below show the path and one of the panels/page of the story located along the path, respectively.

The following descriptions are taken verbatim from our new flyer created by the Warren County Department of Land Preservation & Board of Recreation Commissioners:

A Full Hand by Thomas F. Yezerski

What is “A Full Hand” and how does a StoryWalk work?

“A Full Hand” is a colorfully illustrated story about a young boy (Asa) and his father (Captain) as they go through locks, inclined planes and adventures along the Morris Canal in Warren County.  The fifteen pages of this StoryWalk are spaced out over about 1/3 of a mile looping around a section of the old Morris Canal at Bread Lock Park.  Page one of the story starts to the left of the museum.  As you continue walking along the canal towpath, you will be able to read the remainder of the pages finishing at page 15 near the picnic pavilion.

After you finish your StoryWalk be sure to walk along the canal on the right of the museum to visit remains for the lock, the locktender’s house and the full scale replica of a canal boat.

“Full Hand” canals were the highways of nineteenth-century America.  Mules could pull a heavy load on a boat much faster than horses pulling a wagon over dirt roads.  Canal boats hauled everything from oats to iron ore through America’s wilderness.

The canal in this story was inspired by the Morris Canal, which was built mainly to carry coal from Pennsylvania to the harbors of New York and New Jersey, where it could be sold for fuel.  The canal stretched over a hundred miles across New Jersey, from Phillipsburg to Jersey City.  It climbed mountains and crossed rivers, using inventions like locks, inclined planes and aqueducts.

A Morris Canal boat was about ten feet wide and ninety feet long.  It could be separated into two sections when it had to be filled or go over the top of a hill.  There was a stove on deck for cooking and a cabin inside the boat for sleeping.  Boatmen sometimes had top live far from home for months at a time.

Two mules would pull the boat, using a long rope, or towline, attached to a towing post on the boat.  They followed a dirt walkway, or towpath, next to the canal.  A captain steered the boat by moving a handle, or tiller, back and forth.  A mule driver stayed with the mules to keep them moving.

By 1900, trains had taken over almost all the work of the Morris Canal, and the waterway was soon abandoned.  Remains of it still exist here and there, but most of the canal has disappeared. 

(end of verbatim flyer info)

The creation of this Morris Canal StoryWalk at Bread Lock Park truly comes at an opportune time!  Warren County’s Department of Human Services, Division of Aging & Disability Services began a pilot program trying to make Seniors more aware of all the various programs available.  Through their partnering with Allamuchy Township’s very large and active Seniors group, a concept was developed to include and add Open Space activities as a proactive addition, enhancing the Seniors quality of life!  This concept has been supported by organizations such as Allamuchy Township’s Open Space Program,  Warren County Parks Foundation, Board of Recreation Commissioners, and others who have begun taking a survey of their sites to see which already could be presented to our Seniors for some wonderful recreational, educational, and historical visits.

Bread Lock Park is a wonderful family friendly visit for all ages, with multiple quality sites to visit: Morris Canal Greenway Trail, Morris Canal StoryWalk, Physical Fitness Trail, Museum, Butterfly Garden, Picnic Pavilion, and the Canal!

Please visit my Flickr site for photos of Bread Lock Park and your photo walk along Story Tale Trail – https://www.flickr.com/photos/charliefineran/albums/72157709098548198

Bread Lock Park link – https://warrenparks.com/park/bread-lock-park/

Enjoy Your Open Space

Charlie Fineran

Director Open Space
Allamuchy Township Environmental Commission – Chairman
Allamuchy Historical Society – President