As energetic men all along the Atlantic Plain now took up the
problem of improving the inland rivers, they faced a storm of
criticism and ridicule that would have daunted any but such as
Washington and Johnson of Virginia or White and Hazard of
Pennsylvania or Morris and Watson of New York
As energetic men all along the Atlantic Plain now took up the
problem of improving the inland rivers, they faced a storm of
criticism and ridicule that would have daunted any but such as
Washington and Johnson of Virginia or White and Hazard of
Pennsylvania or Morris and Watson of New York. Every imaginable
objection to such projects was advanced–from the inefficiency of
the science of engineering to the probable destruction of all the
fish in the streams. In spite of these discouragements, however,
various men set themselves to form in rapid succession the
Potomac Company in 1785, the Society for Promoting the
Improvement of Inland Navigation in 1791, the Western Inland Lock
Navigation Company in 1792, and the Lehigh Coal Mine Company in
1793. A brief review of these various enterprises will give a
clear if not a complete view of the first era of inland water
commerce in America.
