The+Schuylkill+River

=**INTRODUCTION**= Over time, projects that involve such drastic increases in environmental and technological innovation tend to affect their surroundings in both positive and negative ways. The evolution of the Schuylkill River is a clear example of such a transformation that had both positive and negative affects on the city of Philadelphia and it’s inhabitants. Several phases characterize the Schuylkill River and it’s change throughout time, beginning with a phase in resources. The resources brought to the city of Philadelphia by the Schuylkill River were invaluable at the onset of the United States’ creation. Followed swiftly by transportation and economic dominance, the history of this river finishes sadly with environmental catastrophe. Throughout the history of this nation, the river has been a project for the purpose of taking advantage of its natural resources, quick and easy transportation of goods and metals found and mined along the river, the formation of companies based solely on transportation and the economic stimulus of the river, technological feats that achieved efficient water delivery to the city’s inhabitants, and was the first site of environmental cleanup taken on by the United States

=**OVERVIEW OF THE SCHUYLKILL RIVER AND INDUSTRY**=

The Schuylkill River served its most business-related purposes during the Industrial Revolution. The river and its tributaries helped fuel the nation's economy because of its abundant natural resources (from the mineral rich soil) and fast moving waters (which provided transportation and fuel). Mines, factories, mills and forges developed sprang up and developed towns along the river due to the availability of water power, needed to fuel mills and factories. The river also served as an ideal transportation waterway route to deliver produced goods to people and markets in Philadelphia. The Schuylkill River Heritage Area soon became a popular area for immigrants to find work. For example, in the anthracite coal region along the river, German and Welsh miners helped to kick-start the earliest nation’s mines.

The river contained a wealth of natural resources that enticed entrepreneurs. The resources were due to the distinctive topography, geography and geology of the Appalachian Mountains and the Piedmont which gave Southeastern Pennsylvania extensive underground mineral deposits and lush forestry. Kittainy Ridge of the Appalachians (which crosses the Schuylkill River) had limestone and granite peaks and made up the nation’s largest supply of anthracite coal. As the mountains thinned out, the limestone compressed into thick slabs that extended westward toward the Susquehanna. This abundance of limestone caused the soil in Berks, Montgomery and Chester Counties to be extremely fertile. The importance of limestone in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries is central—the stone was used for building structures like homes, barns and factories. Iron ore was perhaps the area’s most lucrative resource; its presence helped make the region one of the biggest producers of iron in the colonies. During the Revolution, Pennsylvania had more ironworks than all of the other colonies combined, two-thirds of which were in Berks, Chester and Montgomery Counties.

Anthracite coal was discovered in Schuylkill County in 1790 and since the discovery of coal revolutionized industry as well as the way people heated their homes, the mining of coal and its transportation via the river made Pennsylvania’s Schuylkill River region a hotbed for industrial production. The combination of the available coal and iron ore produced steel, which led to the development of large steel factories in Reading, Birdsboro, Phoenixville, Conshohocken and Philadelphia. By the end of the nineteenth century, Philadelphia was known as the “Workshop of the World.” Baldwin Locomotive Works, Stetson Hats, knitting mills, shipyards, refineries, tanneries, breweries and steel and textile mills prospered in Philadelphia at this time thanks to the transportation opportunities, water power and resources of the river.

Much industry depended on the Schuylkill River to transport goods and coal between Philadelphia and the river towns. The river was the “spine of a complex transportation network”[1] from Philadelphia to Schuylkill County. Because of the discovery of coal and its huge impact on society, merchants founded the Schuylkill Navigation Company in 1815 which assumed the task of constructing one of the earliest canal and river navigation systems in America. The canal brought the coal downstream and brought finished goods upstream to communities. The canal was replaced and made virtually obsolete by the invention of faster, cheaper and more efficient railroads. In 1834 the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad began bringing coal from Schuylkill County to Philadelphia.[2]

=**HISTORY OF THE SCHUYLKILL NAVIGATION PROJECT**=

In the beginning of the nineteenth century, the Schuylkill River was transformed from a source of drinking and irrigation water for Philadelphia and the surrounding area into a navigable water passage between Philadelphia and Port Carbon. It was used primarily for the transport of coal from the mining regions beyond Port Carbon to Philadelphia, where the coal was used to power developing large-scale industries. The shallow, flood-prone river had to be deepened and managed before navigation was possible—in 1815, the Schuylkill Navigation Company was chartered by the state government to oversee and manage the project. The state-sponsored company was awarded a perpetual lease of the river from the state in exchange for creating “lock navigation,” on the condition that any revenue gained through the lease was to be applied to the improvement and maintenance of the river’s facilities. [3]

The 108-mile canal, lock, and dam system was constructed in the following ten years. By the project’s completion in 1825, there were “18 dams, 23 canals which covered 57.73 miles, 120 locks, 17 stone aqueducts, one 450 foot long tunnel, 50.50 miles of slack water pools, 23 canals covering 57.73 miles, and 31 houses for toll” [4] in the system, with significantly more structures built between 1825 and 1947. The canal system was composed of twelve “reaches”—spans of river between management structures—with the First Reach between the intersection with the Delaware River and the Fairmount Pool, and the Twelfth Reach beginning at Blue Mountain Dam [5].

Over the course of the nineteenth century, the river and navigation system served the needs of multiple industries along the Schuylkill, primarily transporting coal downstream to Philadelphia to power the city, and particularly the city’s textile industry. The Schuylkill Navigation Company’s most profitable years were between 1835 and 1841, when the coal industry in and around Port Carbon was at its height, fueling the textile boom in Philadelphia. Though not as profitable, the river system saw its highest traffic in 1859, with 2 million tons of cargo transported along the river. Shortly after, however, the river’s use and profitability declined, undermined by a series of droughts and miners’ strikes, and the rise of railroads for cargo transport. The canal system, ultimately, was leased to the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad Company (whose main focus, rail, had been the undoing of the system) on the guarantee the PRRC paid to maintain the Schuylkill. The stretch of the system beyond Port Clinton was shut down and abandoned, after being judged unprofitable.

In 1902, the Schuylkill Navigation Company resumed management and operation of the canal system. However, with competition from railroads and other forms of transport, traffic on the river declined, until, in 1931, the river was closed to commercial traffic. The government of Pennsylvania began an assessment project in 1947, ultimately acquiring the river system in 1949.[6] The state then began a project to remove the significant coal and industrial runoff silt from the river—basins were constructed to collect silt, and the Schuylkill River was dredged.[7]

=**HISTORY OF THE SCHUYLKILL RIVER WATERWORKS**= In the late eighteenth century, the Watering Committee (later known as the Philadelphia Water Department) was established by municipal community leaders as a result of an outbreak of yellow fever who believed that contaminated drinking water was the culprit of the epidemic. This led to Frederick Graff building of the waterworks on the eastern bank of the Schuylkill River. By 1812 Philadelphia became the first city with a water department to supply an entire city with drinking water. Graff used steam engines to lift water from the river which eventually led to the development of waterwheels in 1822. “At that time, the Water Works used 15-foot waterwheels to pump river water to the city’s reservoirs atop a hill called Faire Mount. Unfortunately, water wheels are inherently inefficient. And because the Schuylkill is a tidal river, the waterwheels were idle two or three hours twice each day.” [8] By 1872, however, waterwheels were replaced by water-driven Jonval turbines. The Jonval turbine, invented in France in 1843, is “a parallel or axial-flow reaction water turbine in which water descends through fixed curved guide vanes which direct the flow sideways onto curved vanes on the runner.” [9] The use of curved blades gave it triple the efficiency of a water wheel. [10] The Fairmount Water Works served as a model for more than 30 other American water delivery systems.



By the late nineteenth century, however, the Schuylkill could no longer continue as both a source of drinking water and a public sewer. “The very success of the Water Works led to its undoing…the Water Works gave Philadelphia a reliable supply of clean water [and] clean water, in turn, brought growth and development, which brought human and industrial waste, much of which ended up in the Schuylkill. Pollution eventually killed the Water Works.” [11] Pollution of the river caused the facility to close in 1909. The Schuylkill had become a polluted, black mess mainly due to the fact that the river had been used as an open sewer. In 1867 the Fairmount Park Commission was founded for the purpose of buying land along the river to prevent further pollution. The Schuylkill River project was developed in 1947 and was the first major environmental clean-up undertaken by a government agency in the U.S.[12]

=**MODERN IMPACT ON THE SCHUYLKILL RIVER FROM DEVELOPMENT**=

The way the land is and was used has had a huge impact on the Schuylkill River watershed. In figure two below, land use is described. The forested areas (green), agricultural areas (yellow), developed areas (red), barren (grey), and open water (blue) land is located. It is important to note the use of the land because developed areas impact the watershed by surface and groundwater withdraws and water quality. Along with development in the watershed, many stresses occur that need technology to help assist in keeping the watershed intact and unpolluted. The assessment of water quality conditions in the Schuylkill River show that 24 percent of the watershed is designated as high quality water, 48 percent for cold water fisheries, 28 percent for warm water fisheries and 74 percent of assessed water was found to meet quality standards to support aquatic life; however, 25 percent of streams are damaged and cannot be used.



The first major source of damage to the watershed is the conversion of low-impact agricultural land to developed residential and industrial land in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The shift is causing the groundwater recharge to diminish. In addition, with developed areas comes increased storm run-off into the river. The second major cause of damaged streams and water pollution is sewage waste. As of 2010, 82 sewage treatment plants run-off into the Schuylkill, accounting for 16 percent of the overall polluted water in the river. The third cause of impaired streams is industrial pollutants. Much like sewage waste, the run-off from industry is harming the watershed, in an effort to reduce this, the facilities must have a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit. The Philadelphia Water Department monitors this runoff by keeping a database of industrial sources; the effects of these sources can be seen in figure three.



Abandoned mines from the earlier industrial development along the river, particularly coal mining, constitutes a fourth source of serious water pollution. Acidic water and dissolved metals are draining off from abandoned coal mines, impairing 103 miles of watershed. Currently, the Reclaim PA program works to plan, fund and provide technical assistance to encourage local communities to re-mine old mines and to employ green technology. Overall, organizations such as Pennsylvania’s DEP Surface Water Quality Network, US Geological Survey’s gauging stations, the EPA’s “Storet” database, the volunteer water monitoring database of DEP, and the Senior Environmental Corps work together to monitor, research, and build public awareness to make sure the Schuylkill River watershed stays intact, in order to provide the area with safe surface and ground water supplies.[13]

=HISTORY OF RECREATIONAL BOATING ON THE SCHUYLKILL=



Beyond the Schuylkill River’s uses as an industrial resource, recreational boating on the river has a long history of technological change. Recreational boating has been a part of the Schuylkill River since 1732 when two clubs were formed, the “Colony in Schuylkill” and “Fort St. David.” [14] Both clubs had fleets of boats for rowing and fishing. Rowing on the river was improved after the construction of the Fairmount Dam, which was built in 1822, creating a safe and calm waterway for boaters. Temporary boathouses were erected that allowed boaters to access the waterway, (such as the one shown in figure four) which depicts an early boathouse in 1876. [15] In 1867 the Fairmount Park Commission was established. The Commission eventually mandated that a permanent Boathouse Row be built north of the Fairmount Water Works’ gardens, in place of the temporary boathouses which were eventually demolished. The photograph (figure five) depicts the row houses that were constructed in Victorian Gothic style. This photograph also shows the 1904 University of Pennsylvania crew team in preparation for a meet.[16]



The distances of races along the Schuylkill River have varied many times since 1859, when they were typically three miles long starting at a point known as Turtle Rock and ending at a location called Peter’s Island. Eventually the course was shortened, ending at the Columbia Railroad Bridge, which had been constructed in 1892 as part of the expansion of railroads in the region. The course was changed again in 1866 “from William Tell Rock below the Falls Bridge to Rockland at Columbia Bridge and back.” [17] The starting and ending points of the course was reversed in 1872. The course was changed again in 1874 to run from Falls Bridge to Columbia at a distance of one and half miles. In subsequent years, the official distances of the boat races were changed repeatedly, in response to industrial and residential development around the river, as well as due to bureaucratic maneuvering within the boat racing committees. The distance was changed to one mile for a short period in 1896, but was set back to a mile and a half from 1899 to 1910. The National Course was established in 1911, which set the distance to one and a quarter miles. In 1937 the distance of the Schuylkill course was one mile, shortly followed by a change to one and five-sixteenths miles. The final standard distance of the course set in 1964 was 2000 meters (approximately 1.24 miles.)[18]

=CONCLUSION=

The rapid change that the Schuylkill River experienced over the years was product of the United States growth and technological improvement as a nation from creation to the modern era. This growth occurred in nearly every facet of urban technology and transportation, allowing the river to take part in the establishment of a nationally prominent city that became an urban economic powerhouse. As time went on, the river aided in the distribution of water to the cities inhabitants, officially giving back to the city in an even more direct way than possible in years past. The last step in it’s technological transformation however was prompted by massive pollution, creating a need for the U.S. government to step in and take measures to prevent further deterioration of a river that has so many deep technological and economic historical roots in the city of Philadelphia. The Schuylkill River is an important historical symbol of American progress, beginning with simple allocation of resources and growing into a full-fledged transportation and technological marvel.

[1] “Industrial Revolution” __The Schuylkill River National & State Heritage Area.__ Retrieved 1 March 2010.  [2] “Revolutionary River.” __The Schuylkill River National & State Heritage Area.__ Retrieved 1 March 2010.  [3] “Brief History of the Property to be Appraised.” __Appraisal Schuylkill Navigation Co. Canal for Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.__ 1947. Retrieved from Reading Area Community College Schuylkill Navigation Maps Archive Project. < http://www.racc.edu/Library/canal/appraisal/history.html> [4] From 1947 State Government Assessment and Appraisal and Related Maps. (http://www.racc.edu/Library/canal/appraisal/appraisal.html) [5] “Profiles of Reaches” __Reading Area Community College Schuylkill Navigation Maps Archive Project.__ 2001.  [6 ] 1947 Assessment [7] “History of the Schuylkill Navigation System.” __Reading Area Community College Schuylkill Navigation Maps Archive Project.__ 2001.  [8] “Huge Gears, Silent 94 Years, Get New Duties: Telling the Tale of How Humans Affect Nature.” __Philadelphia Waterworks Department.__ Retrieved 1 March, 2010.  [9] “Jonval Turbine.” __The English Heritage Thesaurus.__ Retrieved 11 March, 2010.  [10] “Huge Gears, Silent 94 Years, Get New Duties: Telling the Tale of How Humans Affect Nature.” [11] Ibid. [12] Ibid. [13] McMahon, Edward. __A Report on the State of the Schuylkill River Watershed.__ Retrieved 6 March 2010.  [14] Sweeny, Joseph. __The History of the Penn Athletic Club Rowing Association.__ Retrieved 23 January 2010.  [15] Catalano, Laura and Kurt Zwikl. __Along the Schuylkill River.__ Charleston, N.C.: Arcadia Publishing, 2009. [16] Catalano [17] Sweeny, pp. 16. [18] Ibid. [19] "The History of Philadelphia's Watersheds and Sewers" __Philly H20: MSB Exhibit Water for Life.__ Retrieved 16 March, 2010. 