This web site is currently only a very small part of what will come. This Web site will provide extensive coverage of the Morris Canal in Lincoln Park, NJ.
But, there will be much more: research on both the Morris Canal and the Delaware and Raritan Canal of NJ. There will also be other features of interest. So, please look the site over and come back again!
This is the site of Morris Canal Inclined Plane 10 East in Lincoln Park, NJ. Inclined planes were a method of overcoming a change of elevation by taking the canal boat out of water, putting it on a plane car on rails and pulling the plane car uphill with an iron cable. The power for an inclined plane was supplied by a water-powered turbine. The photo looks east. A watered section of the Morris Canal is visible in the center of the photo, taken on April 10, 2004.
On the Morris Canal, inclined planes were numbered according to whether they were east or west of Lake Hopatcong. This plane was the 10th inclined plane east of Lake Hopatcong. There were a total of 23 planes and 23 lift locks on the Morris Canal . Locks on the Morris Canal were numbered in a similar manner.
These large stones were called Sleepers. They were laid in the ground on the planes. Wooden beams were attached to the sleepers. Attached to the beams were the rails on which the plane car ran on while bringing canal boats up or down the planes. This photo was taken on April 10, 2004.
This photo of Morris Canal Lock 14 East was taken in October, 1924, by Alvin Harlow. It is available in the Newark, NJ Public Library.
Morris Canal Lock 14 East was approximately 1 mile east of Inclined Plane 10 East. Only a marker on US 202 indicates its former location today. The controls for the lock were in the Wicket Shanty, the building in the photo. The bridge in the distance carried the Boonton Turnpike, today also US 202, over the canal. The Morris Canal was abandoned in 1924. When this photo was taken, the canal had been drained of water and the lock, along with the rest of the canal, was to be demolished.
On the Morris Canal, locks were numbered according to whether or not they were east or west of Lake Hopatcong. So, this lock was the 14th lock east of Lake Hopatcong. Inclined Planes were numbered in a similar manner.