French and Pickering Creeks: The Schuylkill Navigation Canals of Chester County Lecture by Sandy Sorlien
April 11, 2023 7:00pm to 8:30pm
Back by popular demand! Sandy Sorlien, photographer and author of Inland: The Abandoned Canals of the Schuylkill Navigation, will be joining us for her talk “The Schuylkill Navigation Canals of Chester County”. Co-sponsored by the Schuylkill River Heritage Center, this lecture will cover the fascinating history behind the now abandoned Schuylkill Canal system, also known as “the Navigation”.
The Navigation carried more than a million tons of coal a year along its 108-mile inland waterway from Port Carbon to Philadelphia. After the 1846 system-wide enlargement, there were 27 canals, 32 dams, and 71 locks in operation. It was gradually abandoned until the 1930s and is now largely hidden, yet its industrial legacy is still important and its structures impressive. Chester County is home to some of its best remaining infrastructure.
Sandy Sorlien is a photographer and writer, the author of the new book Inland: The Abandoned Canals of the Schuylkill Navigation, published by George F. Thompson in 2022. She is a native of Philadelphia, grew up in Montgomery County, and lived 27 years near the Manayunk Canal. She works as an Environmental Photographer at the Fairmount Water Works, and designs outdoor tours throughout the Schuylkill Valley.
About Us
The Schuylkill Action Network (SAN) is a collaborative network of over 300 partner organizations working together to improve water resources in the Schuylkill River watershed. With "action" as SAN’s middle name, SAN partners have been working since 2003 to implement best practices across the Schuylkill River Watershed.
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