Delaware and Raritan Canal

Not to be confused with Delaware and Hudson Canal.
For the Delaware Canal in Pennsylvania, see Pennsylvania Canal (Delaware Division).

Delaware and Raritan Canal
A section of the canal as seen from a footbridge in 2013
LocationNew Jersey, U.S.
Built1834
NRHP reference No.73001105
NJRHP No.1600[1]
Significant dates
Added to NRHPMay 11, 1973
Designated NJRHPNovember 30, 1972

The Delaware and Raritan Canal (D&R Canal) is a canal in central New Jersey, built in the 1830s, that connects the Delaware River to the Raritan River. It was an efficient and reliable means of transportation of freight between Philadelphia and New York City, transporting anthracite coal from eastern Pennsylvania during much of the 19th and early 20th centuries. The canal allowed shippers to cut many miles off the existing route from the Pennsylvania Coal Region down the Delaware, around Cape May, and up the occasionally treacherous Atlantic Ocean coast to New York City.

  1. ^ "New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places — Mercer County" (PDF). New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection — Historic Preservation Office. November 28, 2016. p. 1.