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Waterloo Village Hosts Autumn 2015 Canal Heritage Days at Historic 19th Century Morris Canal Town

Posted Tuesday, October 6th, 2015

The Canal Society of New Jersey, in concert with the New Jersey DEP, will hold the its final two 2015 Waterloo Canal Heritage Days on this Saturday, Oct. 10, and on Sunday, Oct. 25, giving Morris County visitors to a look at 19th Century history at nearby Waterloo Village in Sussex County.

Waterloo Village Hosts Autumn 2015 Canal Heritage Days at Historic 19th Century Morris Canal Town
                    Waterloo Blacksmiths

The programs, which are altered a bit on each of the Heritage Days, include hands-on history programs, sometimes a taste of original music, plus a narrated boat ride on the historic Morris Canal.

On this Saturday, Oct. 10, eight of the village’s historic buildings will be open, and historic trades will be demonstrated at the gristmill, and carpentry, seamstress and blacksmith shops.

The following is a look at this Saturday’s planned events:
HISTORIC TRADES: 
EarlePost, a woodworker, has set up a carpentry shop in the Peter D. Smith Carriage House, where he will be working on projects of all kinds.

Richard & Richard Brusco, metallurgist and blacksmiths from Brookside (Mendham), will be working in the blacksmith’s shop. They will alternate between hammering red-hot metal and interpreting the process.

Sharon Kuechelmann will demonstrate her skills in a 19th century seamstress shop using a vintage treadle sewing machine to create authentic period garments.

THE VILLAGE:  A visit to Waterloo includes: Smith’s Store (fully stocked general store), the fully opera­tional Smith Brothers water-powered gristmill, the Rutan Cabin, the Canal Society of New Jersey’s Museum, the Winakung Lenape (Native American) Village, and other exhibits. Food service is available on the grounds

CANAL BOAT RIDES 

Waterloo Village Hosts Autumn 2015 Canal Heritage Days at Historic 19th Century Morris Canal Town

Come and enjoy a narrated canal boat ride on the historic Morris Canal, featuring New Jersey’s only known solar powered canal boat.

 
The Morris CanalIn 1824 the Morris Canal & Banking Company was chartered to build a canal that would carry coal, mined in Pennsylvania, to developing markets along the eastern seaboard.

 
The canal would pass through the heart of New Jersey’s iron district and provide the long-needed transportation system that would create new commercial activity and enable rustic settlements like Waterloo to grow into thriving canal towns.
Waterloo Village Hosts Autumn 2015 Canal Heritage Days at Historic 19th Century Morris Canal Town
 

When completed in 1831, the canal extended 102 miles across the rugged highlands of New Jersey, from Phillipsburg on the Delaware River, uphill to its summit level at Lake Hopatcong, and then down to New York Harbor at Jersey City.

 
To accomplish this, a system of 23 locks and 23 inclined planes were built to overcome the impressive elevation change of 1,674 feet. The canal’s famous water-powered inclined planes were an engineering marvel that enabled canal boats to be raised or lowered up to 100 feet at a time

Waterloo Village Heritage Days run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. They have been held on Saturdays throughout the summer. The final event is set for Sunday, Oct. 25. For more information, visit: www.canalsocietynj.org

For more information on the Morris Canal, visit: http://www.nj.gov/state/archives/pdf/morrisCanalSale.pdf

For GPS: Waterloo Village is located on Waterloo Road, Stanhope, N.J. 07874. Use Exit 25 on Interstate 80.

For more information on Morris County’s heritage, please visit: https://www.morriscountynj.gov/mchc/

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