Busy ‘Canal’ Day at Plane 9 West & Bread Lock

Charlie Fineran’s Photo of the Week captures a busy day of learning about Warren County history along the Morris Canal.

My busy day began this past Friday in the morning about 9:30 when a large bus carrying 35 members of the Society For Industrial Archeology arrived and parked along CR519, Greenwich Township, adjacent to the entrance road, leading to Plane 9 West, home of the Jim & Mary Museum , all part of Warren County’s Morris Canal Greenway.

Our guests were met by Tom Lizzi, Trustee for the Warren County Parks Foundation and myself. The game plan was for Tom to lead the group into the park on a short walk up the entrance road alongside the inclined plane. Upon arrival at Plane 9 West, Jim Lee, Jr. and Jim Lee III would greet, welcome and introduce everyone to the world famous Morris Canal! Their introduction would be in two segments, first, explaining, just how this Plan 9 West Park’s turbine was discovered, cleaned out and developed, ultimately, into being a Park and Museum, through the efforts of his parents, James Lee, Sr. and his wife Mary, their Family, including himself and his brothers, along with neighbors and friends.

The Family story would continue, with Jim Lee, Jr. mentioning that his great grandfather was a boat captain on the Morris Canal, AND how his grandmother was born on a canal boat and would later be a mule tender as a small child working with her father on the canal!

The second phase of the introduction, was describing the principles and workings of the Morris Canal with its locks and famous inclined planes. The tour was then divided into three groups, each would visit three sites, the turbine hosted by Jim Lee, Jr., the animated video, showing the canal and focusing on just how the inclined plane worked, hosted by myself along with Elizabeth Roy, Warren County Land Preservation Office and then the upper portion of the inclined plane, hosted by Jim Lee, III.

When the tour of Plane 9 West was completed, the guests returned to the bus and were transported to Bread Lock Park, also part of the Warren County Morris Canal Greenway, a short distance away. There they would be able to see a life sized replica of a canal boat along the prism of the canal and tow path and many other canal related artifacts.

NOTE#1: due to Covid19 restrictions – both museums were closed

NOTE#2: due to ongoing repairs and restorations a visit into the actual turbine chamber and area was also not permitted.

OBSERVATION: Even with the above restrictions, EVERYONE on the tour was amazed and enjoyed their tours and visits!!!

HINT: Maybe mark this down and add to your ‘Bucket List’!

STORY BEHIND PHOTO OF THE WEEK ARTICLE:

This tour had been in the works for a while. Several months ago Jim Lee, Jr. and Jim Lee III announced to the Warren County Morris Canal Committee that they were working on plans for a large tour of Plane 9 West. They advised the ‘Society For Industrial Archeology’ was having their National Conference during the week of August 23^rd thru 27^th and this tour was their ‘Field Trip’ This ‘Field Trip’ was going to be hosted by the National Canal Society!! The word spread quickly, and ‘Long Story Short’ The Warren County Morris Canal Committee, The Warren County Board of Recreation along with the Warren County Parks Foundation, ALL, agreed to have personnel available, to help with the implementation of this important tour!! The discussion then expanded to offer Bread Lock Park as an additional site to visit and this was quickly included and accepted by all parties. What a wonderful opportunity for National Recognition!!

INTERESTING INFORMATION ABOUT THE SITE:

This site was purchased by and is the former home of the late James S. Lee, Sr., Morris Canal author, historian and one of the foremost authorities on the Morris Canal. James Lee, Jr. was raised here and worked over his childhood years with his brothers to clean out the turbine with his father. Over the years more and more information and artifacts were collected and part of the home was turned into a museum. It was soon realized that the importance of the site along with the amount of information housed here, that the correct course of action would be to make this a public site, which became a reality when James Lee, Jr. sold the site to Warren County, which has continued on not only preserving the site but also expanding the site!! What a great Story!!! If you need directions, the address is 477 County Route 519, Stewartsville, NJ 08886.

Plane 9 West is the longest inclined plane on the Morris Canal (about 1600 feet) with the highest change in elevation (100 feet) Another interesting fact, Plane 9 West was one of three double-tract planes, there were two cradles which meant that two boats could move at the same time, one coming up, one heading down. The other double-track planes along the Morris Canal were at Port Colden (Plane 6 West) and Newark (Plane 12 East.

****The video mentioned above and shown in the photo during the tour is here – Plane 9 West on New Jersey’s Morris Canal: A Computer Animation – Bing video ****

MORE MORRIS CANAL HISTORY

In 1824 the Morris Canal & Banking Company (MC&BC) was chartered to build a canal that would carry coal, mined in Pennsylvania, to markets along the eastern seaboard. It would pass through the heart of New Jersey’s iron district and provide the long-needed transportation system that would create new commercial activity and enable rustic settlements like Dover and Rockaway to grow into thriving industrial towns. The canal opened for business in 1831 and then, in 1836 was extended from Newark to New York City at Jersey City.

When completed, the canal extended 102 miles across the rugged highlands of New Jersey, from Phillipsburg on the Delaware River, uphill to its summit near Lake Hopatcong, and then down to Jersey City. To accomplish this, a system of 23 lift locks and 23 inclined planes were built to overcome the impressive elevation change of 1,674 feet. (NOTE: World Record for canal overcoming elevation change) The canal’s famous water-powered inclined planes were an engineering marvel that enabled canal boats to be raised or lowered up to 100 feet at a time.

Mule-drawn canal boats transported up to 70 tons of cargo and took five days to cross the state. In the heyday of the canal, hundreds of boats carried everything from coal and iron ore to agricultural products. New Jersey’s first industrial transportation system, the canal promoted commerce and shaped the economic development of the northern part of the state.

By the early 1900’s the canal had become obsolete – (NOTE: couldn’t compete with the railroads. The canal closed in the Winter and also only operated during daylight hours, where RR’s were 24/7 much faster and could carry much more product!!) However, it took until 1924 to adopt a plan to close and dismantle the canal. The ownership of the canal’s vast water resources, including Lake Hopatcong, Cranberry Lake, Lake Musconetcong and Greenwood Lake passed to the State of New Jersey. Today, the Morris Canal Greenway, a partnership between local communities and the Canal Society of New Jersey, seeks to preserve the surviving historic remains of the canal, interpret canal sites, and offer recreational opportunities to the public. Warren County, NJ has about 80% of the canal’s remnants, for more than 25 years it has working on creating a ‘Greenbelt’ across the county! This greenbelt will protect the canal history but also provide wonderful recreational and educational opportunities for all to enjoy!!