Chesapeake and Delaware Canal Company

This Company was chartered on February 27, 1802, with the first stockholders meeting being held the following May. In 1804 construction of the canal began including 14 locks to connect the Christina River in Delaware with the Elk River at Welch Point, Maryland, but the project was halted two years later for lack of funds.

The canal company was reorganized in 1822, and new surveys determined that more than $2 million in capital was needed to resume construction. Eventually the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania purchased $100,000 in stock, the State of Maryland $50,000 and Delaware $25,000. The federal government's investment was $450,000 with the remainder subscribed by the public.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers played a vital yet unofficial role for the canal company in 1823 and 1824, providing two senior commissioned officers to assist in determining a canal route. The engineer officers and two civilian engineers recommended a new route with four locks, extending from Newbold's Landing Harbor (now Delaware City, DE), westward to the Back Creek branch of the Elk River in Maryland.

Canal construction resumed in April 1824, and in several years some 2,600 men were digging and hauling dirt from the ditch. Laborers toiled with pick and shovel at the immense construction task, working for an average daily wage of 75 cents. The swampy marshlands along the canal's planned route proved a great impediment to progress as workers continuously battled slides along the soft slopes of the "ditch" being cut. It was 1829 before the C&D Canal Company could, at last, announce the waterway "open for business." The near $2.5 million construction cost made it one of the most expensive canal projects of its time.


Certificate: Mortgage Loan, issued in the 1880’s

Printer: American Bank Note Company

Dimensions: 10 1/2” (h) x 14 1/2” (w)

State: PA-Pennsylvania | MD-Maryland | DE-Delaware

Subject Matter: Maritime and Related | Canal Companies | Dated 1880's

Vignette Topic(s): Ship Featured | Canal Scene

Condition: Vertical fold lines, no cancels, some toning and edge faults from age.