Canals For A Nation
Canals For A Nation

Author: Ronald E. Shaw

Publisher: University Press of Kentucky

Published: 2014-02-07

Total Pages: 303

ISBN-13: 0813145813

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All but forgotten except as a part of nostalgic lore, American canals during the first half of the nineteenth century provided a transportation network that was vital to the development of the new nation. They lowered transportation costs, carried a vast grain trade from western farms to eastern ports, delivered Pennsylvania coal to New York, and carried thousands of passengers at what seemed effortless speed. Along their courses sprang up new towns and cities and with them new economic growth. Canals for a Nation brings together in one volume a survey of all the major American canals. Here are accounts of innovative engineering, of near heroic figures who devoted their lives to canals, and of canal projects that triumphed over all the uncertainties of the political process.

Chesapeake and Ohio Canal
Chesapeake and Ohio Canal

Author: United States. National Park Service. Division of Publications

Publisher: Government Printing Office

Published: 1991

Total Pages: 116

ISBN-13:

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This beautiful illustrated handbook provides information on the 19th century canal era such as: how the canal was built, how it worked, who made it work, and what it contributed to developing agriculture, mining, and industry in the Potomac River basin. Also provides a concise travel guide with detailed canal maps, and other reference materials to make the most of a visit to the canal.

Breaking the Appalachian Barrier
Breaking the Appalachian Barrier

Author: John Hrastar

Publisher: McFarland

Published: 2018-03-12

Total Pages: 264

ISBN-13: 1476670447

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In 1750 the Appalachian Mountains were a formidable barrier between the British colonies in the east and French territory in the west, passable only on foot or horseback. It took more than a century to break the mountain barrier and open the west to settlement. In 1751 a private Virginia company pioneered a road from Maryland to Ohio, challenging the French and Indians for the Ohio country. Several wars stalled the road, which did not start in earnest until after Ohio became a state in 1803. The stone-paved Cumberland Road--from Cumberland, Maryland, to Wheeling, Virginia--was complete by 1818 and over the next 30 years was traversed by Conestoga wagons and stagecoaches. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad--the first general purpose railroad in the world--started in Baltimore in the 1820s and reached Wheeling by 1852, uniting east and west.

The Great Road
The Great Road

Author: James D. Dilts

Publisher: Stanford University Press

Published: 1996-10-01

Total Pages: 594

ISBN-13: 9780804726290

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This masterful, richly illustrated account of the planning and building of the most important and influential early American railroad contributes not only to the railway history but to the history of the development of the United States in the 19th century. 80 illustrations.