The Morris Canal series of caches are placed along the canal towpath in partnership with the Waterloo Village Historic Site and the Canal Society of New Jersey to showcase the important early transportation across New Jersey. The Morris Canal connected the Delaware and Hudson Rivers and facilitated development of cities and industry in New York and New Jersey.
Canal boats -- not “barges" – were an integral part of the Morris Canal. The canal originally was built for boats with a capacity of 10 Tons of cargo. Gradually this was increased to 25 tons.
Section boats were first introduced in 1845, and carried cargoes of 45 gross tons. The boats, which were in two sections, were joined together by latches and steadying pins, the ends abutting against each other. Transverse partitions of wood separate the two compartments, each of which is really a boat by itself. Although the sectional system of boats had been used previously in other locations, it was of great advantage when summiting the planes.
Canal Boats
For boats to pass each other, the tow rope of the boat nearest the berm side of the canal, was allowed to settle to the bottom. The mules of that boat would wait on the side of the towpath furthest from the water. The team pulling the passing boat would walk on the waterside of the towpath pulling the boat over the rope.
Canal Boats Passing
After an enlargement program was completed in 1860, boats were 10.5 feet wide and 87.5 feet long and carried 70 gross tons and more. The planes could transfer boats of as much as 100 tons weight.
Fixing Canal Boat while summiting an Inclined Plane
The total tonnage on the canal steadily increased from 58,259 tons in 1845 to 899,220 tons in 1866. From 1855 on, coal was the main commodity carried on the canal. However, grain, wood, cider, vinegar, beer, whiskey, bricks, hay, hides, iron ore, sugar, lumber, manure, lime, and many other goods also were transported. The decade of 1860 to 1870 was the only prosperous period in the history of the canal, a period which embraced the Civil War, at which time all transportation facilities were taxed to their fullest capacity, and witnessed the greatest growth in population and industry of the territory served by the canal.