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Canal boats under construction on the Susquehanna River at Highspire, PA. circa 1870.
flipFlip to Map showing the junction of the Wiconisco and Pennsylvania Canals at Clark's Ferry, on the Susquehanna River near Duncannon, PA, 1846.
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Workers stand along the tops of two long rows of canal boats and along the side of wooden scaffolding that holds the boats that are in process of being constructed.

Credit: Courtesy of the Pennsylvania State Archives

The more than 3,000 miles of roads and 1,200 miles of canal built by the state and private companies between the 1790s and 1860 were part of a transportation revolution that sped the interchange of coal, lumber, food products and other materials in Pennsylvania's booming economy.

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