The Watsontown Canal once ran through this area, the canal marker is near this cache. There are educational signs beside the canal boat pavillion, that you will pass on your way to this cache.
From the 1830s until the railroad was constructed in 1854, the West Branch Canal literally became the water highway for Watsontown. Though the canal had a major influence on the communities north and south of Watsontown, especially that of Williamsport, it produced no marked effect on the growth or prosperity of Watsontown. Eventually, the canal was superseded by the railroads in their ability to transport large amounts of cargo in shorter time over greater terrain. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania sold the West Branch Canal to the Sunbury and Erie Railroad in 1858. A division of the railroad known as the Pennsylvania Canal Company was established to operate the canal for freight which they continued to do until the great flood of 1889. Due to this devastating flood, which greatly disabled the canal system, the West Branch was closed about 1891.
The lock at Watsontown was still usable following 1891, but the Commonwealth no longer kept up with repairs and it was only a matter of time before even the lock at Watsontown slipped into history. One of the last mentions of the canal at Watsontown was in the April 8, 1898 edition ofThe Record and Star, “Water was let into the canal on Sunday last. Capt. Jere Mottern (1835-1915) and Capt. W.F. Ungard (1853-1923) launched their boats on Monday morning and sailed for the North Branch coal regions.”
After the canal fell into disuse, it became the town’s dumping grounds. Old debris and refuse was taken to an entrance at the western end of Fifth Street where townspeople would discard often large items. In time the “dump” began filling the old canal bed as far north as Sixth or Seventh Street. This created a pool of water the remaining way to Eighth Street and during the winters when the water would freeze, people would ice skate in this area as late as the 1970s.
In January 2010, the pavilion project was conceived by the Pennsylvania Canal Society as a memorial to Robert W. Keintz (1953-2009), a lifelong canal enthusiast. It was also hoped to be a reminder to the general public of the canal days and the great influence the canal system had in Pennsylvania during the early 1800s. The pavilion, designed by Ken Harmon, reflects the full scale of an actual 1851 company owned canal boat and was constructed though the efforts of the Pathways Committee of the Warrior Run Community Corporation.
http://www.mywatsontown.com/?page_id=1467