The AMERICAN CANAL SOCIETY

Welcome!

The American Canal Society is dedicated to Historic Canal Research, Preservation, Restoration, and Parks.   The society was formed in 1972 to promote the wise use of America's many historic canal resources through research, preservation, restoration, recreation, and parks. The society acts as a national clearing house of canal information and co-operates with local, state, and international canal societies, groups, and individuals to identify historic canal resources, to publicize canal history, activities, activities, and problems, and to take action on threatened canals and sites.

AMERICAN CANALS, the society's illustrated quarterly, is an internationally distributed periodical covering canal news, history, activities, and practical information from America and around the world. It is a source of information and inspiration for canal buffs as well as for professional planners, historians, and archaeologists. Click here to see a recent issue.

The American Canal Society's on going projects include a national inventory of American canals and canal sites, a series of regional canal guides and other publications, and committees focusing on canal boat design and construction, canal parks, canal engineering and maintenance, and navigable canal boating and restoration.

Canals and their locks, aqueducts and other "works of art" (as the canal engineers called them) are the ancient castles of the New World. They are monumental works, built for the ages, the product of time, sweat, even the lives of past generations. They represent the beginning of civil engineering and other commercial institutions. It is not an inheritance to be wasted. It is up to us to preserve the best of our past and to wisely use these historic resources. The "ditches" and towpaths of the past can be the quiet parkways of the present and future.  We solicit your support and involvement.

To join us, please print and mail the membership form. Membership includes a subscription to American Canals.

NEW in 2005: Euromapping published a map of the waterways of North America both current and historic.  The first such map in over 90 years.  It includes a guide to all the waterways shown plus other information.  Copies are available on the Inland Waterways International (Link) web site.

NEW in 2007: The ACS Canal Boat Committee has established a certification program for authentic canal boat replicas. See the link below for more information.

Click on the links below for more information!

Latest Updates:

4/6/08 - Added photos of D & H Canal and Lehigh Canal
4/13/08 - Added information to Restoration page
5/11/08 - Added photos of Delaware Canal and Union Canal tunnel. Added to Restoration information page
6/24/08 - Added link for C & O Canal Trust and other C & O Canal pages
6/27/08 - Added links on eBooks page for Whiltford's NY Canal histories
6/29/08 - Modified Canal Boats page.  Added to Corps of Engineers histories page
7/25/08 - Added to restoration page
8/2/08 - Updates to Florida index pages
8/3/08 - More updates to Florida index pages
8/22/08 - Updated American Canals index to present. Added structure page for Wallisville TX L&D
8/23/08 - Added structure page for Clewiston, FL Lock
8/24/08 - Rescanned and combined pages of American Canal Guides 3 & 4
9/21/08 - Added Black River Canal & Erie Canal Lock 33 photos
9/28/08 - Updated Black River Canal page and Boats you can cruise page
11/1/08 - Added photos of Fox River, WI and Camillus, NY
11/2/08 - Added photos of Cayuga & Seneca Canal
11/9/08 - Revised index pages of the Black River Canal (NY) and the lower Fox River (WI)
11/14/08 - Updated index pages for Prairie du Sac Lock, WI & Wabash Rover Lock 1, IN
11/18/08 - Added new photos of C & O Canal tour boats
1/23/08 - Added photos of D & R Canal and Delaware Canal plus links to photos of the Erie Canal
1/24/09 - Added contact info to Restoration Resources page for the lower Fox River (WI)
1/31/09 - Minor changes to Ohio & Erie Canal index sheet
2/3/09 - Updated Calendar, added to Delaware & Raritan Canal photos
2/6/09 - Updated Indexes for American Canals to latest issue
2/25/09 - Revised Ohio & Erie Canal index pages including adding GPS coordinates
2/26/09 - Revised Lehigh Canal index pages including adding Lower Division table and GPS coordinates
3/27/09 - Revised Illinois & Michigan Canal index page adding table of structures with GPS coordinates
3/29/09 - Updated President's letters, revised some PA index pages
5/1/09 - Added photos of Lehigh Canal, Walnutport to Lock 1
5/6/09 - Added photos of Sandy & Beaver Canal's east end from CSO spring 09 tour
5/20/09 - Updated American Canals indexes to Spring, 2009
6/18/09 - Updated Canal Boats you can cruise page
6/19/09 - Added Structures List to Miami & Erie Canal (OH) index page
6/22/09 - Added Union Canal photos
6/27/09 - Revised Structures List to Miami & Erie Canal (OH) index page
6/29/09 - Further revised Structures List to Miami & Erie Canal (OH) index page
7/2/09 - North Canadian River (OK) and Oklahoma listings added to Index Sheets

This site was last updated on 07/02/09