{"nrhp_refnum":"79002179","name":"Carbon County Section of the Lehigh Canal","other_names":["Upper Canal Lock #1 to Lower Canal Dam #3"],"category":"structure","location":{"address":"Along Lehigh River","address_restricted":false,"city":"Weissport and Vicinity","county":"Carbon County","state":"PA","lat":40.82952303600007,"lon":-75.67754807987926,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1979-08-10","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Transportation"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A 19th-century transportation canal along the Lehigh River in Carbon County, Pennsylvania, running from Lock 1 to Lock 18 near Weissport, with construction beginning in 1816.","why_significant":"The canal carried anthracite coal to market and helped develop industry and settlement along the Lehigh River. The nomination also points to the engineering quality of the system and to the surviving ruins and lock structures, which can still be studied.","narrative":"Along the Lehigh River between Locks 1 and 18 near Weissport, this canal carried anthracite coal to market. Construction began in 1816, with Canvass White serving as chief civil engineer, and through navigation opened in 1829. The valley route includes eighteen locks, two guard locks, two guard dams, remnants of eight lock keeper houses, and about twelve miles of towpath. Mule-drawn boats of roughly 16 by 35 feet, often linked in pairs, hauled coal, slate, flagstone and timber. Mills, boat yards, coal docks and furnaces grew along the banks because of the water route. Floods in 1841 and 1862 damaged the system, and railroad competition reduced traffic. Regular commercial traffic ended in 1931. Its engineering and industrial remains, including archaeological ruins and intact lock structures, are still visible today.","period_of_significance":"1829-1931","architect_builder":"Canvass White (chief civil engineer)","architectural_style":null,"criteria":[],"status_note":"Commercial shipping on the canal stopped in 1931; the Carbon County section is described as in good condition, with a small portion altered by road construction.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-haiku-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.1-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 17:11:30.048777-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/lz/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_PA/79002179.pdf"},"photo":null,"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/71998610","wikipedia":null,"wikidata":null},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/pennsylvania/carbon-county/carbon-county-section-of-the-lehigh-canal-79002179/"}