ledgewood canal walk canal society of ew jersey

Colonial Hall Site

Original Riggs Home Site

New location of the original Riggs Home

Ledgewood Canal Walk

Riggs Canal PaRk & loCk 1 EastIn the early 1800s Silas Riggs moved to the area and lived in a house that stood across the street from the park. He prospered in the tanning business and in the 1820s was awarded one of the first contracts to build a section of the Morris Canal. On the property that is now Riggs Canal Park, he built for himself a new Federal style home that survived into the 1960s. When threatened with demolition, the

original home was moved and is now cared for by the Roxbury Township Historical Society. Follow the walking path through the woods to the site of Lock 2 East, along the canal tow-path and back around to the parking lot.

Riggs mansion house.

Lock 1 East looking west with the lock tender’s house in the trees on the right.

Riggs Canal Park is a work-in-progress that needs restoration work at the lock site and volunteers to help keep the walking path clear.

Canal SoCiety of new JerSeyP.O. Box 737, Morristown, New Jersey 07963-0737 of 3

New location of the original Riggs Home

M a i n S t r e e t

Emm

ans Road

Canal Street

Parking

Parking

Gate

CanalBasin

Drakes Brook

Site of

Inclined Plane

3 East

Inclined Plane – 2 EastTowpath

CANAL PARK

Site ofPlane 3 Power

House

57

46

PrivateProperty

Site ofPlane Tender’s

House

Marked trail to the Ledge Overlook

2

61

8

START3

Gate

Mountain Road 4

PrivateProperty

TowpathNot Walkable

Bypass Channel

Filled in Canal Basin

Upper Canal Level

46

46

Main Street

Ledgewood

Mt Arlington

Road

Riggs Avenue

Raritan Avenue

Inclined Plane 3 East

Emm

ans

Road

Canal Street

Private Property

Main Street

Riggs Canal Park

Canal Park

King Canal Store

RiggsHouse

King House

Interpretive Panels

Parking

Park Entrance

Traffic Light & Crosswalk

Street Parking

Canal Basin

Roxbury Historical Society

Form

er R

oute

of t

he M

orri

s Ca

nal

10

Parking

Route of the Morris Canal

Greenway information: canalsocietynj.org

Greenway Trail



Greenway TrailOther Trails

Ledgewood, formerly known as Drakesville, was a crossroads village that became a port on the Morris Canal. King Canal Store was the center of village activity for both boatmen and farmers. Park along Main Street then follow the Greenway trail along Canal Street past the remains of the canal basin. Plane 3 West was located in the back yards of the homes alongthe north side of Canal Street.


king Canal stoRE & inClinEd PlanE 3 East

Drakesville Historic District

Canal SoCiety of new JerSeyP.O. Box 737, Morristown, New Jersey 07963-0737

of 3

M a i n S t r e e t

Emm

ans Road

Canal Street

Parking

Parking

Gate

CanalBasin

Drakes Brook

Site of

Inclined Plane

3 East

Inclined Plane – 2 EastTowpath

CANAL PARK

Site ofPlane 3 Power

House

57

46

PrivateProperty

Site ofPlane Tender’s

House

Marked trail to the Ledge Overlook

2

61

8

START3

Gate

Mountain Road 4

PrivateProperty

TowpathNot Walkable

Bypass Channel

Filled in Canal Basin

Upper Canal Level

46

46

Main Street

Ledgewood

Mt Arlington

Road

Riggs Avenue

Raritan Avenue

Inclined Plane 3 East

Emm

ans

Road

Canal Street

Private Property

Main Street

Riggs Canal Park

Canal Park

King Canal Store

RiggsHouse

King House

Interpretive Panels

Parking

Park Entrance

Traffic Light & Crosswalk

Street Parking

Canal Basin

Roxbury Historical Society

Form

er R

oute

of t

he M

orri

s Ca

nal

10

Parking



Greenway Trail



Greenway TrailOther Trails

© 2020, Joe Macasek-MacGraphics


Canal PaRk & inClinEd PlanE 2 East

Canal SoCiety of new JerSeyP.O. Box 737, Morristown, New Jersey 07963-0737

Historic view looking upPlane 2 East.

Historic view looking down Plane 2 East.

1 Canal Basin From the parking area at the top of Plane 3 East walk along the filled in canal past the canal basin to the bottom of Plane 2 East. Together, the two planes raised and lowered canal boats 128 feet.

2 Bottom of Plane 2 EastAt the bottom of the plane canal boats were float-ed onto a wheeled cradle car. A cable attached to the cradle pulled a boat and its cargo up the plane. The channel on the right is a bypass that allowed water to flow around the plane when the machinery was not in operation.

3 Sleeper Stones and Tar PotsAs you walk up the plane notice the line of stone blocks, called sleepers, that supported the iron rail on which

the cradle car traveled. Halfway up the plane on the right, tar pots were kept bubbling. The tar was used to coat the cable.

4 Power HouseFarther uphill a roofed pavilion covers the site of the power house that housed the machinery that operated the plane. Water from the upper level of the canal was brought to the power house in a wooden flume and used to power a reaction turbine. Gearing turned a huge iron drum that wound the cable that pulled boats up and down the plane. You can look through the grating to see the turbine chamber below.

5 Tail Race Water exhausted from the turbine flowed from the turbine chamber down a long

tailrace tunnel to the bypass channel and back into the canal at the bottom of the plane.

6 Plane Summit At the top of the plane the cradle car carried the boat over the summit and down into the canal. The summit acted as a dam to hold wa-ter in the upper level of the canal.

7 Upper Canal Basin At the top of the plane a huge stone wall held the canal against the side of the hill forming a small basin where canal boats could maneuver.

8 Towpath Trail To extend your walk, follow the canal towpath for approximately a quarter mile then return.

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ledgewood canal walk canal society of ew jersey

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