THE DPT AWARF VAT T FV V «TX JL# JL^r -L-r X PANORAMIC VIEW 01" THE M1NISINK LANDS AUOVE THE DELAWARE WATER GAP. JFrom $JtulalJrlpljta to ttic ^oronos A GUIDE TO The Delaware Valley TREXTOX, LAMBERTVILLE, EASTON, PHILLIPSBURG, BELVIDERE, PORTLAXD, AND THE Delaware Water Gap PREPARES i".Y » > ■ CHARLES F. JENKINS r ember Historical Society of Pennsylvatih Member Bucks County Historical Society. IJlnlaUrlpina : FERRIS & LEACH 29-31 X. Seventh Street 1 902 THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, T>«o Copies Received JUL. 14 1902 -Copyright entry CtASS i «~ XXo. No. COPY B ■ < « , •••• « ••••••• . c C C *c« * •••• • , ' «•• • • « # « ' Copyright, 1902, by Charles F. Jenkiks. I°l jTvcnn :|3l)ilctbclpl)ici to tl)c poconos * HE trip from Philadelphia to Trenton is one so often taken and so familiar to travelers that but little space need be devoted to it. In taking the train at Broad Street Station, if it is to be a through one, try to obtain a seat on the left side of the car, and if a change of cars is made at Trenton, observe the same course there, for the left or river side is by far the more interesting. In the morn- ing this will be the shady side. After leaving Broad Street the train crosses the Schuyl- kill twice, and passes entirely across the northern end of the city. At Frankford Junction the Atlantic City branch leaves the main line, and on the right the high bridge over the Delaware may be seen. Frankford is a busy manufacturing suburb. At BEIDESBUEG, the next station, is located the United States Arsenal, the flag of which may be seen float- ing above the tree- towards the river. At HOLMESBURG JUNCTION a branch road runs to Holmesburg, and in four miles reaches Bustleton, the ter- minus. Just beyond Holmesburg Junction is the House of Correction, lying along the Delaware River and the Penny- pack Creek (Tenia Peca was the original Indian name), which we here cross. On the right of the road is the en- closed quarry, where the inmates of the House of Correc- tion labor, with guard houses on the fence, and on the left is a branch of the County Prison, with stone walls thirty- five feet high. At TOREESDALE, the next important station, the train crosses the Poquessing Creek and we are now in Bucks County, traversing a beautiful, park-like country, the soil of which is so rich and dee]) that nowhere in east- ern Pennsylvania are to be seen more beautiful oaks. Just before reaching CROYDON (Phila. 20 miles), we cross the Xeshaminy, here quite a broad tidewater stream. Three miles more and BRISTOL (Phila. 23 miles) is reached. Beyond this point we pass through the well-tilled fields and checker- board patches of a well-known seed farm. When TULLYTOYYN (Phila. 2: miles) is reached, the river has made a wide bend and is now some miles away. Directly opposite this point, however, and on the banks of the river, is where William Penn had his country seat, " Pennsbury." Just before reaching MORRISVILLE (Phila. 32 miles), named for Robert Morris, the great financier of the Revo- lution, our tracks are joined by those of the " Trenton Cut- Off/' which, crossing Bucks, Montgomery and Chester Counties, joins the Pennsylvania Main Line at Downing- town. On the right are the new tracks and a stone bridge which the railroad company is building to eliminate a sharp curve at this point. At the left, just before entering the bridge over the Delaware, a view is had of the city of Trenton, stretching along the river, and at the left of the picture is the New Jersey State Capitol building. In crossing the bridge note the sign which the railroad company has erected, marking the State line between Pennsylvania and New Jersey, in 1he middle of the river. TBEXTON (Phila. 33 miles), originally called Trent's Town, has a population of 73,307, is the capital of the State, and county seat of Mercer County, so named after General Hugh Mercer, who fell at the Battle of Princeton, January 3d, 1777. The Battle of Trenton occurred De- cember 26th, 1776. The creek we see before reaching the station and again after leaving it, is the Assanpink, on the shores of which occurred a skirmish, dignified in local annals as the Battle of Assanpink, January 2d, 1777, between the British forces under Cornwallis and the American army under Washington. Trenton produces more crockery and pot- tery than all the rest of the United States. It has also extensive wire rope mills, iron, steel and zinc works, fire brick, terra-cotta and rubber goods factories. Soon after leaving the station at Trenton the train passes from the main line and enters the Belvidere Division of the Penn- sylvania Eailroad. After circling around the outskirts of Trenton, through numerous potteries and manufac- tories of various kinds, we cross, $£* , T * just before reaching Warren Street Station, the Delaware and Raritan Canal, which connects the Delaware with the Hudson waterways, and which before the days of railroads, was an important link, connecting Philadelphia and New York. The canal is still in use. At the right, at the head of Warren Street, a short distance from the railroad, is the monument erected to commemorate the Battle of Trenton. It stands on the spot where the battery of the American army was placed to command Warren Street and the street joining it at this point. The monument is surmounted by a statue of Wash- ington. The gilded dome of the State Capitol is visible through the side streets immediately after leaving the Warren Street Station. On the outskirts of the city is Cadwalader Park, with a station of that name and a pretty suburb close by. The train now runs along the bank of a canal which was origi- nally made as a feeder and still supplies the water for the Delaware and Raritan canal, referred to above. We fol- low its banks, mostly between it and the river, for twenty miles or more. ASYLUM (Phila. 3T miles). Four miles out of Trenton, on the right, is one of the two State Insane Asylums of New Jersey. The farm houses and farm lands are along the banks of the canal, while the buildings proper show above the trees in the distance. In this institution Doro- thea Lynde Dix, the well-known philanthropist, who suc- ceeded in accomplishing much to ameliorate the conditions of paupers, insane and prisoners, occupied rooms during the latter portion of her life, and here she died, July 19th. 1887. The station is on the left. Just beyond Asylum Station the train passes under the tracks of the Bound Brook Division of the Reading Railroad, which here crosses the Delaware on a high, modern, iron bridge, and shortly alter leaving : WILBU'ETHA (Phila. 39 miles) the tracks approach the side of the river, and do not again run far from its bank. Following the railroad tracks, now on one side, now on the other, and sharing with it and the canal the narrow flow of the valley is the river wagon road. The Delaware Eiver was discovered by Henry Hudson, who entered Delaware Bay in 1609, before he sailed up the river which now bears his name. The bay and river have been known by different names. The Indians called it Poutaxat, Mariskitton, Makerish-Kisken and Lenape-Wi- hittock. The Dutch, Zuydt or South Eiver, Nassau Eiver, Prince Hendrick or Charles Eiver. The Swedes, who fol- lowed the Dutch to its shores, named it New Swedeland Stream, and the English called it Delaware. It is one of the finest and most beautiful rivers of the Atlantic Slope. It is formed by two branches, rising in New York State, on the western slope of the ( 'at skill .Mountains, and its total length is about 312 miles. A little more than a mile beyond we pass the flag station of SCUDDEB'S FALLS (Phila. 41 miles), so named from an important New Jersey family whose plantation, still in their possession, is near by. The " Falls of the Delaware " at Trenton was a noted geographical point, marking, as they did, the limit of navi- gation up the river for the early settlers. For many years the trip to New England and New York was by the river to this point and then overland. The Falls of the Dela- ware, or Trenton Falls, are merely swift rapids some miles above the present city of Trenton. It is said that tourists h&ve frequently come to Trenton, N. J., and viewed these rapids, not without disappointment, supposing they were the famous Trenton Falls in New York State. There Avas always considerable traffic over the waters of the Upper Delaware, carried on by Durham boats, prob- ably so named from the fact that they carried iron ore to Philadelphia from the Durham furnace. They were pro- vided with a mast and sail for sailing with the wind, but were returned up stream by pushing them with long poles shod with iron — a laborious and difficult undertak- ing. There were also other boats, called arks, which were made strong enough to be floated down stream, when they would be broken up at Philadelphia and the lumber sold. The first ark was built at Mauch Chunk, in 1806, and came down the Lehigh, and then the Delaware, loaded with three hundred bushels of coal. A mile farther and another little station, SOMEKSET (Phila. 42 miles), is reached, with the rail- road occupying a narrow strip between the canal and the silvery river. While ordinarily placid enough, there are usually one or more floods during the winter or spring, when the Dela- FRESHET OF DECEMBER l6, I9OI ( LAMBERTVILLE BRIDGE). ware overflows its banks. Of the notable freshets, those in 18(32, 1811, 1(31 and 1692 are particularly remembered. In 1841, the highest record, all the bridges from Easton to Trenton, then five in number, were swept away; and houses barns, fences and orchards were destroyed. The flood of December, 1901, was the most severe of recent years. The illustration shows the river as it was during this freshet. The water is within nine inches of the bottom of the bridge. On the usual spring floods the rafts, boats and arks would pass over the various ledges and rifts in com- parative safety. As early as 1746 lumber was carried down the river in rafts. In that year a raft manned by two men, named Skinner and Parks, reached Philadelphia, where for their exploit they were given the " freedom of the city/' and Skinner was called " Lord-High-Admiral-of-the-Delaware," , which title he bore afterwards. Some rafts still come down the river each year in the spring freshets, and at the saw mills along the river may still be seen rafts tied to the shore awaiting consumption. WASHINGTON'S CROSSING (Phila. 43 miles), now connected with Taylorsville, on the Pennsylvania shore, by a long wooden bridge. Washington had retreated to the Pennsylvania side of the river on December 8th, 117 6. Every boat and all the available boards and scantling; in fact, everything that would have served to make rafts, had been carefully re- moved to the west bank of the river. About 11 o'clock the same morning the British came marching down to the river bank at Trenton, expecting to follow, but soon found there was no way to cross. Searching parties up and down the river could find no boats. The British finally settled down in comfortable quarters at Trenton to wait until the river was frozen over. Here they enjoyed a pleasant Christmas day, 17 76. but that night Washington, having collected his boats at Knowles" ( ove. crossed the >wollen river amid the floating ice with 2,400 troops, besides horses and twenty pieces of artillery. The night was dark and a snow storm had set in. The crossing began at sunset and it was three 11 ■ -^LecFir.- 1 Jb*a in the morning before they were all over. Marching to Trenton over the frozen roads he fell upon the Hessians encamped there, and killed or captured the whole detach- ment. The result of the expedition was 1,040 prisoners, 23 officers, 1,000 stand of arms and several cannon. The successful army recrossed the river with its prisoners in safety. By many historians this victory, coming as it did at almost the darkest hour in the American Revolution, is regarded as the turning point in the war. The Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and the Mercer County, ISTew Jer- sey, Historical Societies have erected granite stones to commemorate the event, and they mark the points of cross- ing. The ISTew Jersey one stands above the canal, on the right hand side, a few feet beyond the station. The Penn- sylvania stone is shown in the illustration. Last summer 12 the writer overheard an intelligent woman say she " didn't see why Washington wanted to cross in the boats amid the floating ice, when there was such a good bridge he might have walked over." A hundred yards be- yond the station, on the bank above the canal, is an old hipped-roof frame house, which is said to have been Washington's headquarters at the time of the crossing. Shortly after passing TITUSVILLE (Phila. 44 miles), the next station, over to the left, on the Bucks County side, back some distance from the river, Jericho Mountain is seen, while nearer the water's side is a conical-shaped elevation called Bowman's Hill. It is named after a Dr. Bowman, who came to Bucks County two hundred years ago. He is said to have been a BRIDGE AT WASHINGTON S CROSSING. pirate, one of Captain Kidd's men, and to have kept a mas- sive oaken chest filled with gold. At his own request he was buried on top of the hill. There is a story that if one should lie down by Bowman's grave and say in a low voice, "Bowman, what are you doing down there?" he answers, " Nothing/' The ridge of hills, of which Bowman's is part, extends across into New Jersey. After passing MOOBE (Phila. 46 miles), an unimportant station, with an extensive stone quarry, Solebury Mountain, another range of the hills, shows itself up the river, on the Bucks County side, its wooded side sloping sharply down to the water. Just beyond the station, on the right, high up on the bluff overlooking the river, is the Mercer County work house. About a mile beyond Bowman's Hill, just below the paper mill with its big wheel, close to the Pennsylvania side, is, or rather was, Malta Island, which, in Revolution- ary times, was densely wooded. The back channel has now filled up, and it is no longer an island except in time of flood. It was behind this island the boats, collected from far up the river, were hidden at the time just before Wash- ington crossed the river to attack the Hessians at Tren- ton. While hidden here some of the boats were carried away by the ice and floated down the river. The train is now passing a formidable series of rapids, which, from earliest times, have been a menace to the raftsmen and boatmen. The river here has a fall of twelve feet. The illustration shows the river at this point during a dry summer, when the water was very low. There are two clams just above what is called Welles' Falls. The one on the Pennsylvania side was formerly used to raise water into the Pennsylvania Canal; that on the New Jersey side to deepen the channel for the rope ferry, which we soon pass on the southern outskirts of Lambert- 15 ville. Here canal boats were transferred back and forth across the river. The lock opening into the river will be noticed, and also that on the Pennsylvania side. Our train soon enters LAMBEETYILLE (Phila. 50 miles), connected with New Hope by another of the long wooden bridges that add interest to the ride along the river. Here the " Old York" Road, from Philadelphia to New York, formerly crossed the river by an ancient ferry, known in Revolution- ary times as CoryelPs Ferry. During the Revolution Cory- ell's Ferry was an important strategic point. Washing- ton's army crossed here when he was marching to the de- fense of Philadelphia during the summer of 1777, and again, when Howe evacuated Philadelphia and started across New Jersey, Washington's army marched from their winter quarters at Valley Forge and crossed at Coryell's Ferry, June 22d, 1778. The house in which he made his headquarters stands back from the railroad on the right, and can be seen after passing the electric light building on the northern out- skirts of the town. It is a stone house, al- most hidden in a bower of trees, with its gable end turned to- wards the railroad. Lambertville is a busy and flourishing manufacturing town, crowded into a narrow strip of land along the river. It is the head- quarters of the Bel- videre Division of the railroad and important repair shops are located here. Just beyond the town a branch 16 ' j^fe*" ■ ~#J§hE * • SKlft f t * ** * f~ ' .' ' . hs ll ; : , <• • ' * ' •, liPI [ja .1 . M : Jff . H m * *Kt ^K%*F?&" v*k ^HD BBPE- ! j^ ' ■ ■ ■ : ■ ';', .. I " " — — rwflHD ^yUHMPMRr ,' . ..' MOUNT GILBOA. road runs oft' to Fleming-ton, the county seat of this, Hunterdon County, and the center of a great peach- growing industry, for which the red soil, which is now no- ticeable in the color of the soil and roads, is particularly adapted. This red sandstone belt extends across New Jer- sey from Tomkins Cove, N". Y., and southwest through Pennsylvania to Reading, Pa., then on nearly west to the Susquehanna, below Harrisburg, when it turns southwest and leaves the State. On the outskirts of Lambertville the Alexsocken Creek flows under both the canal and the railroad. A mile beyond the town the hills approach the river and the train glides around the end of what is known as Mt. Ciilboa. It will be recognized from the illustration. • 17 In the river opposite STOCKTON (Pliila. 53 miles), a sleepy riverside village, is a big island, known as Hendrick's Island, which is regu- larly farmed and inhabited. At Prallsville, about a mile above Stockton, are extensive sandstone quarries, on the right. Here the Wickecheoke Creek enters the Delaware. Soon the railroad crosses the canal. On the Pennsylvania side the wooded hills now rise to a considerable height, and at Lumberton, distinguished by the great stone quar- ries, the beautiful Cutalossa Creek flows into the Delaware. BAVEN ROCK (Pliila. 56 miles), on the left, between the canal feeder and the river, is Bull's Island, now a picnic ground belonging to the railroad. In ancient times a prof- itable shad fishery was located here. At the opposite end of the bridge which here spans the river is Lumberville. The road leading up the hillside at the station used to be called Democrat Hill; but a more enterprising man came along, and, by running it from right to left, made an easier rise, which was called in distinction Federal Twist. Just beyond the station, on the right, are the rocky crags once inhabited by ravens, which give the name to the place, while on the left is the point where the waters of the Delaware enter the canal. The river here is just sixty-nine feet above tide level. The water which enters the canal here feeds the Delaware and Earitan Canal at Tren- ton and flows on across New Jersey to Earitan Bay and on into the Atlantic. Beyond this point we are no longer ac- companied by the picturesque canal; but across, on the Pennsylvania bank of the river, we still have glimpses, here and there, of passing canal boats. This is the Dela- ware Canal, extending from Bristol to Easton, and con- necting the Lehigh coal regions with Philadelphia. The traffic over it, while inconsiderable as compared with that of years ago, is still of some importance. 18 POINT PLEASANT BRIDGE. At BYIiAM (Phila. 58 miles), the next station, is one of the great quarries, of which we have passed several, while on the Pennsylvania side is Point Pleasant, a healthful village, high up on the hills. From the hills back of Point Pleasant, is presented an extended and beautiful view of the river. Here the Tohickon Creek, a considerable stream, which drains the upper portion of Bucks County, enters the river. The modern iron bridge which crosses the river looks out of keeping and not as pleasant to the eye as the long, weather-stained timber ones we have been passing. TUMBLE FALLS (Phila. 60 miles) is the next station. Those who may have been expecting a fall in the river will be disappointed, for, beyond a drop over three suc- cessive ledges of rocks, there is nothing to be seen. Just this side of the station is a big island called Solliday's Isl- and, while overhanging the railroad is a cliff towering four hundred feet high, known as Warford's Bocks. We are now passing a portion of the river which in the early days was famous for its shad fisheries. Farmers used to drive 19 SHAD FISHING ON THE UPPER DELAWARE. from their homes far hack from the river for their supply of shad, which in many homes were salted dowm for winter use. In 1810 as many as 1,200 to 1,500 shad were caught in a day at one little fishery on the Pennsylvania side, near this point, and 60,000 shad in a season was not an unusual catch at some of these up-river fisheries. By 1825 there was an appreciable falling off in the number caught, and by 1841 still further shrinkage in the catches. Later most of these fisheries were abandoned, but some are still profitable enough to work. The picture shows a moderate haul at one of these modern fisheries. At one time the herring fisheries were also important, but herring fishing has now entirely disappeared. 20 BEYOND TUMBLE FALLS. KINGWOOD (Phila. 6.2 miles) is a little box of a station. We are now opposite a considerable group of islands, all of them large enough to possess a name. They are so close to each other and so cut up by minor channels that it is difficult to tell where one ends and the other begins. The last one, that is, the northernmost one, is quite fam- ous historically. Its ancient name was Tincony Island, but later it was called Marshall's Island, from Edward Mar- shall, who lived here, and died here November Tth, 1789. The island can be distinguished by the fact that it has a house and barn upon it, and a large portion of it is culti- vated. The dwelling house stands about eighteen feet above the water. The extreme length of the island is one and a quarter miles, and its width one-quarter of a mile. It contains 116 acres. By treaty between the Indians and William Penn's sons, the latter were to have as much land as lay between a line, 21 to the extremity of which a man could " travel " in a day and a half, and the Delaware Biver. Edward Marshall. with two other walkers, were selected to make the " walk/' but he alone survived the pace, and at the end of the day and a half he had covered about seventy miles. The In- dians claimed that the walk was unfair, and took an espe- cial antipathy to Marshall, so that his life on the island. which he received for his reward, was anything but happy. His first wife was killed by the Indians, and he con- si sintly carried his rifle with him while at work. There is one story told of the Indians coming on him unawares while he was chopping wood. He engaged them in con- versation. By boasting that he was stronger than they he induced them to try to pull apart the log he was splitting. When they had inserted their fingers he suddenly pulled out his axe that was holding the sjDlit apart, when, of course, the log closed and entrapped the Indians' hands. He then proceeded to dispatch them one by one. Marshall's rifle is still preserved by his descend- ants, who live near by. With it he is said to have killed 1,300 deer, besides other animals, and uncounted Indians. FKENCHTOWN (Phila. 65 miles) is a pretty little New Jersey town, with the ever-present toll-bridge connecting it with Uhlertown on the Pennsylvania side. Just before we reach the station the Nichisakawick Creek flows into the Delaware. Frenchtown was so named from the fact 22 1' RE YOST MANSION. RIVER VIEW ABOVE MILFORD. that it was settled by M. Prevost, a French Huguenot, whose house is still standing across the road, almost imme- diately opposite the station. There was a ferry at this point long before the bridge was built. Burgoyne's army, marching south from Saratoga as prisoners of war, was ferried over the river at this point. We are again reminded that we are in the region of Indian names, for in about two miles we cross the Hari- hokake Creek, and two miles farther we cross the Haki- kokake Creek, which enters the Delaware just before we reach MILFOKD (Phi la. 69 miles). After passing the station, the New Jersey bank of the river towers above the rail- road, crowding it and the country road almost into the water. On the Bucks County side the hills rise to a height of 500 feet, and we approach, shortly after passing HOLLAND (Phila. 72 miles), a steep and craggy pal- isade, called the Narrows, and also the Nockamixon Kocks, where the river has forced its way, leaving but little room for the canal and wagon road at its base. This is by all odds the finest bit of nature between Trenton and Easton, with its almost perpendicular walls of stratified rock, its scanty verdure and its cap of fields and forests. While there is but little soil in the crevices of the rocks, these ledges are particularly rich in their flora, and have long been visited by botanists in search of rare specimens. It is said that here can be found several northern plants not to be found elsewhere in the country south of New Bruns- wick. The rare Sedum Ehodiola, clinging here to the naked rock, is said to inhabit but one other spot in the "United States. Here are also the Canada Water Leaf, Canada Yiolet, Ginseng, Purple Trillium and other rare specimens. The view from the summit of these crags is 24 THE NARROWS. PANORAMIC VI KW OF THE DELAWARE particularly fine, extending far up and down the winding river and across over the New Jersey farms and wood- lands. The train here, owing to the course of the river, is now running southwest, and the sun, which may have been shining steadily in the windows on the right, will come peeping in at the left, and for a very short distance the train is heading almost directly toward Philadelphia. About two miles beyond Holland, if the traveler is watchful, he may see curling above the trees on the Penn- sylvania bank of the river, here some distance away, the yellow smoke of the Durham Iron Works. For one brief moment the furnace itself may be seen. It is situated at the mouth of the Durham Creek, and is one of the ear- 26 VALLEY, TAKEN FROM THE SUMMIT OF THE NARROWS. liest erected in the United States, the first blast having been begun in 1728. The furnace and iron works were busily engaged during the Revolution in casting shot and shell, which were shipped to Philadelphia by boat. Here also was made the great chain which was stretched across the Hudson River at "West Point to prevent the British fleet sailing up the river. Each link weighed 250 pounds, and it w r as a matter of no small moment to transport it across New Jersey and put it in place. In 1848 these works passed into the control of Messrs. Cooper & Hewitt, of New York. The train now swings around the base of Mt. Joy, an offset of the great Musconetcong Mountain, and at its 27 CANAL LOCK IN TIIK NARROWS. north base, flowing into the Delaware, a few hundred feet before we reach EIEGELSVILLE (Phila. 75 miles), is the Mucon- etcong River, the outlet for the famous Lake Hopatcong, now a well-known New Jersey summer resort. The river is also the dividing line betw r een Hunterdon and Warren Counties, the latter of which we now enter. The Mus- eonetcong Mountain extends over into Pennsylvania, and disappears into the surrounding level some five miles away. On the north side of the mountain, some distance from the river, is a cave, known as the Tory Den. The tradition is that a detachment of marauding Tories were pursued by a party of Continentals as far as the river, where they eluded pursuit. They then passed a short distance up the Musconetcong Valley, ascended the mountain and con- 28 GOING THROUGH THE LOCK. cealed themselves in this rocky retreat, where they re- mained all winter, being secretly fed by some neighboring Tories. The town of Eiegelsville is on the opposite of the river. At the station are important paper mills. We are now approaching the foot hills of the Blue Moun- tains, and the scenery grows rapidly in beauty and gran- deur. Two miles beyond Eiegelsville we pass through a fine gap which the river has made through the Pohatcong Mountain on the Xew Jersey side, and Bougher Hill on the Pennsylvania, and the train turns sharply east, following the base of the mountain for some distance, then north- wardly, crossing shortly the Pohatcoug River or Creek. Here the mountain, one of the greatest in Xew Jersey, has degenerated into a ridge of low hills, rarely exceeding 700 feet, which increase in height after passing the Delaware. 29 CARPENTERVILLE (Phila. 79 miles) is now reached. Soon the train swings around the base of another moun- tain. We are now in the midst of what on the Pennsyl- vania side are called the Durham Hills, and in two miles more we swing around to the right through another gap. and, following along the base of this mountain, or hill. the steeples of Easton and Phillipsburg soon appear on the left, beyond a beautiful vista up the river. Between the tracks and the river are the narrow, rusty rails of a dump railroad from a once famous, but now aban- doned iron furnace at Phillip-lung, which has had to carry its waste slag a long distance in order to dispose of it in the narrow valley. On the right we soon come to a canal, the western ter- minus of the old Morris, which, in connection with the Le- high Canal at Easton, was once a famous waterway. for coal. The hasin is now nearly filled with decayed and sunken canal boats, relics of the pasi : but there are also here yards where canal boats are made and repaired. The stables for the horses and mules are now nearly empty. The drum by which, and the inclined plane through which, the canal boats were dragged up from the bed of the river to the level of the canal are still to be seen. Immediately after we reach the network of high bridges at LEHIGH JUNCTION (Phila. 81.1 miles). Here the Lehigh Valley and Central Railroad of New Jersey cross the river and our railroad, and, a few hundred yards be- vond, the train rolls into PHILLIPSBURG and EASTON (Phila. 84.4 miles). Easton is beautifully situated on the Pennsylvania side at the "Forks of the Delaware/' as the junction of the Le- high with the Delaware was anciently called. The Lehigh will be noticed, flowing over a dam, which was built to turn 30 WEYGADT GAP. the water into the Delaware Canal, which starts at this point. Phillipsburg, a town of 10,052 people, is an important industrial center. It occupies the site of an ancient Indian town, and is said to have been named after Philip, an In- dian chief, a friend of the last great chief of the Lenapes, Teedyuscong. The town itself was settled at an earlier date than Easton. Easton is the county seat of Northampton County, which was laid off from Bucks County in IT. 52. At that time it included territory now divided into Lehigh, Carbon. Schuylkill, Monroe. Pike and all the other counties north of them to the New York line. Easton itself was laid out about 1737 and incorporated 1789. It was a favorite place for holding treaties with the Indians. It is the seat of Lafayette College, founded 1826, and named in honor of Lafayette, who was visiting this country in that year. The buildings will be seen on the heights north of the town, shortly after the train passes the station. Still further beyond, on the continuation of the hill on which are the college buildings, the Paxinosa Inn will be noticed, perched upon the top, elevation 700 feet, and enjoying a beautiful prospect up and down the river. This portion of the hill is called Chestnut Hill, and also Weygadt Mountain. The beautiful gap which we soon pass through, rivaling in beauty, but not in grandeur, the Water Gap itself, is called Weygadt Gap. HAKMOXY (Phila. 89 miles) is an unimportant flag sta- tion, reached after a delightful five miles of ride close to the river. The general range of hills through which we have been passing, some of which are designated as moun- tains, extend southwestwardly across Xew York. Xew Jer- sey and Pennsylvania. They occupy an area of over 800 square miles. In Xew York and Xew Jersey they are 31 called the Highlands, and the Durham and Reading Hills on the Pennsylvania side of the river. MARTIN'S CREEK (Phila. 91 miles), so named from a creek that drains a portion of Northampton County on the Pennsylvania side. Here the Bangor and Portland Railroad has a connection, and, until familiar with the facts, one is apt to imagine himself in the State of Maine when the brakeman calls out, " Martin's Creek; change for Bangor/' and a little later we reach Portland. Bangor is the center of the slate industry of Northampton County. Here, on the Pennsylvania side, are extensive cement factories, the smoke from which may be seen curling up above the tree tops. HUTCHINSON'S (Phila. 93 miles) and ROXBURG (Phila. 94 miles) are mere roadside stations. Away off to the right Scott's Moutain follows the railroad with its ir- regular but continuous outline culminating some four miles away from the railroad in a peak called Mt. No More, which attains an elevation of 1,120 feet. Between this and the next station, towering up close to the track between the train and the river, is Chimney Rock, surmounted by a good-sized red cedar tree. FOUL RIFT (Phila. 96 miles). Here the river has a considerable fall. Although in many places the current seems to have been running strongly, yet the average fall in the river from Frenchtown to Trenton is only three feet two inches per mile. In the 18| miles from Manunka Chunk to Easton it falls 93 feet, twelve feet of which are at Foul Rift, where for half a mile the river plunges down over a limestone rift. The remaining fall to Easton is uni- formly distributed, averaging 4^ feet per mile. This has always been the most shallow, rapid and dangerous falls in the river, and the lumber raftsmen would breathe a sigh of relief when they had passed through. At one time consid- 32 DISTANT VIEW OF THE WATER GAP. erable money was spent to improve the channel by blast- ing. BELVIDERE (Phila. 98 miles) gave the name to the Belvidere and Delaware Railroad, which, on being leased to the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1872, became the Belvi- dere Division, lies at the point where the Pequest River or Creek reaches the Delaware. It is a pretty little town of 1,784 population, and is interesting from the fact that it marks the southern limit of the great ice cap, which in the ice age covered the northern part of North America. Here the great moraine of the ice cap has deposited in the valley great masses of gravel, which extend all across Xew Jersey to Perth Amboy. The railroad now cuts across a great bend in the river and suddenly bursts out on the river hank, high up above it, giving one a pleasant surprise and a most beautiful view. In the distance, away up the river, is the Water Gap, with its giant sentinels of the valley, while winding below, around wooded islands and through fertile fields, is the glistening river. A short incursion inland, a hurried return to the side of the river, and in a few minutes 33 MANUNKA CHUNK (Phila. 100 miles), the junction station with the Lackawanna Railroad, is reached. The latter railroad finds its way to the river side through a tun- nel under the mountain. Here, if our train is not a through one for the Poconos, we change cars. The ride over the Lackawanna Eailroad to New York vies in inter- est with the trip we have just made from Philadelphia. We are now considerably nearer Xew York city than we are to Philadelphia, the distance to Hobo-ken, opposite Xew York, being 78 miles. The probable wait at Manunka Chunk will give us a moment to refer to the Indians who lived in the Delaware Valley; they were the Lena pes, or Delawares, a branch of the great Algcnkin family. These were the Indians with whom William Penn made the famous treaty under the elm at Philadelphia. Of the character of these Indians the general impression is highly creditable to them. They were intelligent, generous and hospitable, faithful to their engagements, and until corrupted by whiskey and embit- tered by the gross knavery of the whites, particularly in the Indian Walk, which has already been mentioned, they were the firm friends of the whites. The particular branch of the Lenapes living around the Water Gap and in New Jersey were the Minsis, Munsees or Minnisinks. It was this tribe that was particularly outraged by the taking of their beloved Minnisink lands by the Indian Walk, and it needed but little urging on the part of a branch of the Delawares that had previously moved west to Ohio to per- suade them to join the French against the English in the French and Indian war of 1755. Their fury descended on those who had occupied the disputed lands, and soon all this region above Easton was desolated, and the scattered families of the settlers were fleeing to Easton, Bethlehem, and the various outlying blockhouses, for safety. One body of the hostile Indians was under command of the famous 34 chief Teedyuscong, who was born on the Poeono Moun- tains, and who was perhaps the last of the famous Dela- ware chiefs. In 1756 a famous Indian council was held at Easton, and Teedyuscong agreed to terminate hos- tilities. After this date the Delawares rapidly emigrated to Ohio. During the Revolution they took the side of the colonies. From Ohio they again moved to Kansas, and also to Canada, Louisiana and Texas. A few still remain in the Indian Territory. Not all, however, joined in their emi- gration, and there are to-day in the neighborhood of Phila- delphia some ten or fifteen families who still pride them- selves on their Lenape blood. Beyond Manunka Chunk the road skirts the side of the valley well up on the mountain side. Looking backward, the mouth of the tunnel is visible, while the view up the river reaches to the Water Gap. DELAWARE (Phila. 102 miles) is a riverside village Here a little branch of the Xew York, Susquehanna and Western Railroad runs off to Blairstown. the home of the well-known Blair family. A short distance beyond Dela- ware the tracks cross the river, and we are again in Penn- sylvania. Robeson's Rift is just below the bridge where the railroad crosses the river above Delaware. It derives its names from the following story: In IT T 7 the settlers were driven across to the Xew Jersey side of the river by marauding bands of Indians, but the appearance of danger having vanished, one of the old settlers, named Robeson, sent his son Elam Robeson and a hired man across to plow and sow the fields. They worked a while witli their rifles tied to the plows, but, becoming tired of this and careless, they left their weapons at one side of the field, where, when they were on the opposite side, the Indians seized them and attempted to capture the boys. The hired man 35 ^» JP " ' ? * tss '*■ ,1 ! "**i^;-" y ,#f S^ES IV $*|5I ■ *j ll •'• - ~i? *W 1 f • '^'''*l plunged into the stream and swam over to safety, but Elam Robeson ran toward the rift and was shot and killed when half way over. From that time to this the gravel bar has been called Robeson's Rift. In a mile and a half the town of PORTLAND (Phila. 106 miles) is readied. This little place was formerly called Dill's Ferry, when connection was had with Columbia, on the opposite side of the river, before the bridge, 796 feet long and costing $40,000, was built. Here are connections with the Bangor and Portland Road. which we met some time ago at Martin's Creek. Just above Portland the high bridge of the Lehigh and New England Railroal is over us. This was a link in the " Poughkeep- sie Bridge Route " to New England. After leaving Port- land we rapidly approach the Delaware Water Gap. The Kittatiny Mountain, through which the river bursts, forming the water gap, is variously named. It has some- times been called the Blue Mountain, on account of its bluish tinge; and also the North Mountain, for it is the north boundary of the great Appalachian Valley, which runs through from the St. Lawrence by Lake Champlain and the Hudson River, thence across Northern New Jersey for forty miles, its width varying from ten to thirteen miles; then on through Pennsylvania by Bethlehem and Harrisburg, forming the Cumberland Valley of Southern Pennsylvania, and becoming finally the Valley of the Tenn- essee. Kittatiny is an Indian name, meaning Endless Hills. It is known as the Shawangunk Mountain in New York. A feature of the range is the remarkable series of picturesque gaps through it — the Delaware, the Wind Gap, the Lehigh, the Schuylkill, the Swatara and Susquehanna Gaps, at dis- tances of twenty-two to twenty-eight miles apart. The portion of the Kittatiny forming the east pillar of the Water Gap is called Mount Tammany, named from a venerated chief of the Lenape Indians, after whom the various Tammany societies formed before and after the Revolution were named, and of which societies that now meeting in Tammany Hall, in Xew York, formed ITS!), is the best known. The elevation of Mount Tammany i> 1,486 feet, and one mile back it rises to 1,630 feet. The corresponding mountain on the Pennsylvania side is Mount Minsi, so called from a branch of the Lenapes who lived in this section. Mt. Minsi is 1,480 feet high. The width of the Gap is 1,500 yards at the top and 300 yards at the river's edge. We are now swinging around the base of Mt. Minsi, where barely sufficient room is found for the railroad tracks. The mountains tower above us, and the traveler cannot but be impressed with this gigantic work of nature. Whether this immense chasm has been formed by erosion or by some mighty upheaval scientists are not fully agreed. Looking up the river, as the train at one place bears to the left, the Kittatiny House is noticed, perched on the side of the Hill, while above it is the Water Gap House. Opposite us, on the New Jersey side, is Blockhead Moun- tain, a smaller hill, so named because it always obtrudes itself in the view of the Gap from the north. Soon the station is reached. DELAWARE WATER GAP (Phila. 110 miles). This famous place has been a summer resort, ever growing in popularity, since 1820. Among the first visitors were Horace Binney and Caleb Cope, honored names in Phila- delphia history. Quite a village has sprung up, with numer- ous hotels and boarding houses. All about are beautiful roads and paths through the woods, by dashing streams and pretty falls. The attractions of the place are widely known and highly appreciated. The land above the Gap on both sides of the river is historically known as the Minisink, and it is generally ad- 39 mitted that European settlers came here from the Dutch in New York before Perm had reached the Delaware at Philadelphia. After leaving Water Gap station the railroad crosses the little Cherry Creek, which comes down from the beautiful Cherry Valley, and, turning abruptly westward, it follows along the clear and dashing Analomink River, or Brod- head's Creek. Passing the mills of the Delaware Water Gap Pulp and Paper Company on the right, we cross the Analomink and soon pass under the tracks of the Xew York, Susquehanna and Western Railroad, which have been in sight for some time. We are now in Monroe County, the southern county line of which follows the level summit of the Kittatiny Mountain. Monroe County was formed in 1835 out of Northampton and Pike Counties, and named in honor of President Monroe. In four miles we roll into the station of Stroudsburg. The portion of the town surrounding the station is East Stroudsburg, a separate borough and post-office from Stroudsburg proper, which lies a half mile away on the other side of the Analomink. STROl'DSBURG (Phila. 114 miles) is the county town, a pleasant and quiet place, tilled with city visitors during the summer season. On the outskirts, situated on hills giving extended views of the surrounding country, and in the midst of many spots of interest, are several well-known summer hotels. At Stroudsburg the new Delaware Valley Railroad branches off to Bushkill, thirteen miles, and is to be con- tinued thirty-two miles more. Stroudsburg is the southern terminus of the famous Milford Road, one of the most noted carriage roads in the country, known to thousands of wheelmen, famous alike for its excellent condition and its beautiful scenery. It leads to Marsha IPs Falls, Bushkill, Dingman's Ferry and .Milford. 41 Stroudsburg is called after one of its first settlers, Col- onel Jacob Stroud. It was created a borough in 1815. The town and township were originally mainly peopled by Quakers, and an ancient historian adds. " The inhabitants are enterprising, frank, temperate, moral, always ready to extend the hand of friendship to Grangers and visitor-." Colonel Jacob Stroud was a Revolutionary officer, who owned 4,000 acres of land, and who commanded Fort Penn. situated here. Stroudsburg is famous as having been the first haven of refuge for those unfortunate men. women and children who fled over the mountains from the Wyoming massacre during- the Revolution. Beyond SPRAGrEYILLE (Phila. 118 miles) the rail- road soon begins to climb the mountains. Often, if the train is long and heavy, it is drawn by two locomotives. For a portion of the way we climb up through the valley of the Analomink. hut presently the stream divides and we take the valley formed by the left branch. The scenery now grows wilder, the grade is steeper, and the air is no- ticeably cooler and lighter. After climbing up. up, up and winding around the mountains, we reach HEXPYYILLE (Phila. 122 miles). This is a well- known summer resort, with some excellent boarding houses near by. In many cases the summer hotels and boarding houses throughout this region are the outgrowth of farm- houses, where years ago a few boarders were taken for the summer. Year by year, as pleased guests returned and new- ones came, the old houses would be enlarged until they grew out of all resemblance to the original home. A- the farm houses were always situated near a good spring or a stream of running water, the modern boarding houses have still this great advantage, but in many cases their locations deprive them of distant views. The houses which have 43 LofC. been built in recent years have regarded an extensive view- as a requisite. Henryville is in the center of some of the best brook trout streams in Pennsylvania. There are many points of interest in the vicinity, with good roads. The grade beyond Henryville is increasingly steep, as following round and round the mountain sidi's, we leave the little stream which has made a passage way utilized by man for the roadway. Soon, at one point, we have, look- ing away to the southwest, a view of the distant Water Gap, with intervening miles and miles of woods and moun- tain tops, square fields and hillside orchards. Looking west, Pocono Knob pokes its nose boldly out. looking as if it had been shaved oft' by some gigantic knife. In five miles the next station is reached, but just before the train begins to slow down there is a glimpse of the Inn at Buck Hill Falls, two and a half miles away to the right. perched on a spur of the Poconos. At CPvESCO (Phila. 127 miles) we have attained an ele- vation of about 1,600 feet. This is the railroad station for Paradise Valley and Falls, lying south of the station, (to the left), and for Buck Hill Falls and Canadensis to the north or right of the train. A stage line runs from Cresco to Laanna. Panther and South Sterling. Here the almost unbroken woods be- gin, stretching up into Pike County, in the midst of which the State Forestry Commission have established what will no doubt ultimately be a large and important for- est preserve. 45 BUCK HILL FALLS. Ilnv. too. the streams are the delight of fishermen, par- ticularly in the Less-thickly-settled regions north of the station. There are many beautiful falls in this vicinity, of which the famous Falls of the Buck Hill arc best known. Near by are the Leves Branch Palls, Spruce Cabin Falls and Paradise Falls. The railroad here has made a great bend to cling to flic mountain side, so that it may attain the summit, hut it now turns away almost southwardly around Cresco Moun- tain. As the train mounts higher, the view increases iu extent: the long, level summit of the Kittatiny is in sight, with the Water Gap breaking it in the middle, and ex- tending on as far as the eye can reach into New Jersey. .lust before we come to Paradise Tunnel the view is at its best, and when we emerge at the upper end and are out of the cut, we look away down into the valley wine 1 lies right at our feet, and here is the Pocono Mountain House, beside a little brook and in the midst of pleasant grounds. Further to the south is the Outwood and a mile down the valley is Swift water. Perched high on a hill, just beyond, is the Montanesca, commanding the sweep of valley for sixty miles. We have now reached MOUNT POCONO STATION (Phila. 133 miles), with an elevation of about 3,000 feet. The Poconos, through which we have been passing, cross the northeastern corner of Pennsylvania and become the Catskills in New York; with various names, they pass on down through Pennsyl- vania, through Maryland and Virginia, and become the Black Mountains of North Carolina. Mount Pocono is the largest mountain resort in Penn- sylvania, with many modern hotels, scores of smaller hoarding houses, and whole settlements of pleasant cot- tages. Throughout all this region the air is remarkably dry, soft and mild, blowing as it does over miles and miles <:! woodland. The soil is porous: the drainage good. 47 The region is noted for its healthfnlness, and. although so near the big cities that it would not he expected there would he much difference in temperature, yet the ther- mometer is an average of 10 degrees lower, while the ap- parent difference is even greater. Nor is the altitude so great as to aggravate nervous disorders. POCONO SUMMIT (Phil. 135 miles) is two miles be- yond Mt. Pocono, and here the character of the country changes. We are now on the flat summit of the mountain. The soil is sandy and the roads heavy. Pine trees bent by the constant wind, and struggling for life out of the sandy soil, abound. This is the station for Naomi Pines, four miles away to the south, where is to be established during the summer of 1902 the Pocono Pines Chautauqua, on the shores of a beautiful lake. A short distance beyond, in the midst of great ponds, famous for the clear, pure ice formed on them and shipped by train loads to New York and Philadelphia is TOBYHANNA (Phila. 140 miles). The traveler is now on the western summit of the mountain and the road he- gins to descend into the valley of the Susquehanna. As Tohyhanna is the terminus of many of the trains, and as the few remaining summer pleasure seekers who have not left the train at the stations just passed will alight here, we will close the record of a pleasant ride at this point. 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