Flat Rock Dam

Built in 1819 as part of the Schuylkill Canal, a project that enabled barges to easily navigate the Schuylkill river from Port Carbon (near Pottstown) to the Fairmount Dam in Philadelphia, a distance of 108 miles. After a period of moderate success hauling anthracite coal barges during the early 19th Century, the canal saw a decline in traffic and revenue as a result of not only competition from the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad, but droughts and floods as well. (A drop in tonnage in the wake of the Civil War was a major blow as well) The canal saw it's last last commercial vessel in 1917, although pleasure boats continued to use it until around World War II. A project to remove silt from the river resulted in the destruction of many of the canal facilities, while others such as Lock 68 fell into ruin. Today the lockkeeper's house sits as a roof less and graffiti covered ruin, while the canal itself is blocked off and overgrown. There is a proposal to partially restore the structures as part of the Philadelphia Water Department's plan to rebuild the Flat Rock Dam, though as of late 2017, there are no signs of any work being done....

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