Stop 44. Canal
ADDRESS: Corners of West Curtin, West Linn, and Water Street
YEAR BUILT: 1848
This location along Spring Creek, between the intersections of West Curtin Street and West Linn Street with Water Street, marks the terminus of the Bald Eagle and Spring Creek Navigation Company Canal. In 1834, the Bald Eagle and Spring Creek Navigation Company began the construction of a canal to provide barge transportation of iron along the same route as the Bald Eagle, Nittany, and Bellefonte Turnpike, which was built in 1833, following Spring Creek into Bellefonte. The canal was completed in 1848 and was in operation until 1865.
The canal ran along the east side of the creek (opposite bank). At this location, in 1859, the first steam locomotive ever to operate in North Central Pennsylvania on the famous Bellefonte-Snowshoe Railroad was unloaded.